THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 
AT 

:LES 


Mabel  C 


FEEDING   HER  BIRD 
,  aged  12,  Algona,  Washington 


SCHOOL  CREDIT 
FOR  HOME  WORK 

BY  L.  B.  ALDERMAN 

•CITY    SUPERINTENDENT    OF    SCHOOLS 

PORTLAND,    OREGON 

FORMERLY    SUPERINTENDENT    OF    PUBLIC 
INSTRUCTION,    STATE   OF   OREGON 
2.&&-2L  3 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

BOSTON  NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 

<£be  fltocrsi&e  press  Camtmtige 


COPYRIGHT,    1915,    BY   L.    R.   ALDERMAN 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


JEfje  £(ber*tot  JJrcss 

CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U   .   S   .    A 


Education 
Library 


TO  THE  MEMORY 

OF 

MY  FATHER  AND  MOTHER 

Who  made  their  boys  happy  partners  in  the 
work  of  the  home  and  farm 


PREFACE 

IT  has  been  a  surprise  and  a  delight  to  me, 
as  this  book  has  been  in  progress,  to  learn  of 
the  many  different  ways  that  people  have 
worked  out  these  home  credit  plans.  It  has 
been  as  if  I  could  see  into  many  happy  school- 
rooms. Letters  from  mothers  and  fathers 
boasting  of  the  accomplishments  of  their 
children,  have  brought  to  me  a  little  glow 
from  the  hearthsides  of  many  homes.  A 
father  brought  his  boy  —  or  rather  the  boy 
brought  his  father  —  up  to  see  me  and  talk 
over  what  the  boy  was  doing  at  home.  The 
father  boasted  of  the  boy's  fine  garden,  his 
big  pumpkins,  his  watermelons  that  would 
attract  the  neighbors.  Johnny  almost  burst 
the  top  button  off  his  vest  with  pride  as  his 
father  praised  him  and  patted  him  on  the 
head.  After  this  happy  meeting,  the  father 
and  the  son  got  on  the  high  wagon  seat  and 
rode  home;  and  as  I  saw  them  going  down 
the  street,  I  could  imagine  what  they  talked 
about.  Such  glimpses  help  to  make  a  school 


vi  PREFACE 

man's  life  worth  while;  and  I  have  had  many 
of  them  as  I  have  been  writing  this  book. 

For  the  fact  that  this  book  exists  at  all,  I 
am  indebted  to  my  wife,  who  has  helped  me 
with  every  part  of  it,  and  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
C.  C.  Thomason,  of  Olympia,  Washington, 
who  believed  in  the  book  from  the  first.  Mrs. 
Thomason  has  also  done  much  work  on  the 
book;  she  has  gathered  all  the  illustrative  ma- 
terial, visiting  many  schools  and  writing  many 
letters.  She  and  my  wife  have  done  most 
of  the  organizing  of  material,  and  have  gone 
over  the  manuscript  together.  To  Miss 
Fanny  Louise  Barber,  of  the  Washington 
High  School,  Portland,  I  am  grateful  for  her 
careful  reading  and  revision  of  several  chap- 
ters. I  owe  thanks  to  Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Hoagland, 
of  Belt,  Montana,  for  the  true  and  vivid 
stories  she  has  sent  me;  and  I  am  thankful 
to  all  the  home  credit  teachers,  with  whom 
we  have  been  corresponding,  for  their  pains- 
taking answers  to  our  letters,  as  well  as  for 
the  valuable  plans  that  they  have  originated. 

L.  R.  ALDERMAN. 

PORTLAND,  OREGON, 
November  16,  1914. 


CONTENTS 

PART  ONE 

I.  INTRODUCTION 1 

n.  MARY 7 

III.  THE  SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL  ....  11 

IV.  WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  THE  ALGEBRA?     .  24 
V.  HONORING  LABOR 34 

VI.  HABIT-BUILDING 39 

VET.  THAT  OTHER  TEACHER  AND  THAT  TEACH- 
ER'S LABORATORY 46 

VIII.  STELLA  AND  SADIE 53 

IX.  A  STORY  AND  LETTERS  FROM  TEACHERS   .    60 

PART  TWO 

I.  ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    .      .    71 
II.  HOME  CREDIT  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS  .      .      .  156 

APPENDIX 167 

INDEX        ......  .        177 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FEEDING  HER  BIRD Frontispiece 

SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL 12 

PICNIC  LUNCHEON,  SPRING  VALLEY  ....    20 

JOE  m  THE  GARAGE 28 

WORK  CREDITED  AT  SCHOOL 36 

EARNING  HOME  CREDITS 42 

O.  H.  BENSON  POTATO  CLUB 88 

HIGH  SCHOOL  BOYS   IN   RAILROAD  SHOPS  .      .  156 


SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME 
WORK 

PART  ONE 


INTRODUCTION 
2.<&3»2L  3 

The  child  is  a  born  worker;  activity  is  the  law  of  his  nature. 

FRANCIS  W.  PAKKER. 

THIS  book  is  simply  the  narrative  of  the 
working-out  of  an  idea.  The  idea  first  came 
to  me  from  memories  of  my  own  home,  where 
tasks  were  assigned  to  us  children  and  were 
made  to  seem  important.  With  my  father, 
the  work  was  always  carried  on  in  the  spirit 
of  a  game,  and  the  game  could  be  made  as 
interesting  as  any  other  game ;  in  the  mean- 
time something  was  being  done  that  was 
worth  while.  Among  many  other  memories 
there  comes  one  of  our  laying  a  rail  fence 
by  moonlight,  after  a  freshet  had  taken  the 
other  fence  away;  when  the  game  was  to  get 
the  line  completed  before  the  moon  went 
down.  I  can  still  see  father  laying  rail  on 
rail,  and  enjoy  his  glowing  enthusiasm  at 


2      SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

our  accomplishment.  The  fence  still  stands. 
Besides  seeking  to  make  the  work  interest- 
ing in  itself,  father  had  a  device  to  put  a 
value  on  time  for  his  boys  by  giving  us  free 
time  after  the  tasks  were  completed  to  do  as 
we  saw  fit. 

The  desire,  after  I  became  a  teacher,  to 
put  myself  in  the  enviable  position  of  my 
father  as  an  inspiring  influence  with  children, 
was  the  motive  that  took  my  thoughts  out  of 
the  schoolroom  into  the  homes  of  my  pupils. 
Should  not  the  school  be  simply  a  group  of 
people  come  together  for  improvement,  with 
the  teacher  as  their  best  friend,  ready  to 
discuss  and  promote  everything  that  seems 
worth  while?  We  found  it  easy  to  talk  at 
school  about  the  things  the  children  were 
concerned  with  out  of  school.  One  spring  my 
pupils  carried  home,  from  our  little  boxes  at 
school,  cabbage  plants  and  tomato  plants  to 
become  members  of  their  families  for  the 
summer.  Later  we  had  a  county  school  fair 
for  the  exhibition  of  the  children's  clear  jelly 
and  fine  bread  and  vegetables  and  sewing  and 
carpentry.  The  schools  were  trying  to  recog- 
nize "the  whole  child." 


INTRODUCTION  S 

This  book  is  written  in  the  hope  that  par- 
ents, teachers,  and  children  may  be  helped 
to  work  together  more  joyously  and  harmo- 
niously on  the  real  problems  of  life. 

When  I  was  teaching  in  the  University  of 
Oregon  in  the  spring  of  1910, 1  wrote  and  had 
published  in  the  Oregon  papers  the  following 
article: — 

We  all  believe  that  civilization  is  founded  upon 
the  home.  The  school  should  be  a  real  helper  to 
the  home.  How  can  the  school  help  the  home? 
How  can  it  help  the  home  establish  habits  in  the 
children  of  systematic  performance  of  home  duties 
so  that  they  will  be  efficient  and  joyful  home  help- 
ers? One  way  is  for  the  school  to  take  into  account 
home  industrial  work  and  honor  it.  It  is  my  con- 
viction, based  upon  careful  and  continuous  obser- 
vation, that  the  school  can  greatly  increase  the 
interest  the  child  will  take  in  home  industrial  work 
by  making  it  a  subject  of  consideration  at  school. 
A  teacher  talked  of  sewing,  and  the  girls  sewed. 
She  talked  of  ironing,  and  they  wanted  to  learn  to 
iron  neatly.  She  talked  of  working  with  tools,  and 
both  girls  and  boys  made  bird  houses,  kites,  and 
other  things  of  interest.  Recently  a  school  garden 
was  planned  in  a  city  and  one  of  the  boys  was 
employed  to  plow  the  land.  Seventy-five  children 
were  watching  for  him  to  come  with  the  team.  At 
last  he  came  driving  around  the  corner.  He  could 
manage  a  team.  He  drove  into  the  lot,  and  a  hun- 


4     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

dred  and  fifty  eyes  looked  with  admiration  at  the 
boy  who  could  unhitch  from  the  sled  and  hitch  to 
the  plow;  and  then  as  he, "  man-fashion,"  -  —  lines 
over  one  shoulder  and  under  one  arm,  —  drove  the 
big  team  around  the  field,  all  could  feel  the  chil- 
dren's admiration  for  the  boy  who  could  do  some- 
thing worth  while.  And  I  have  seen  a  girl  who 
could  make  good  bread  or  set  a  table  nicely  get 
the  real  admiration  of  her  schoolmates. 

The  school  can  help  make  better  home-builders. 
It  can  help  by  industrial  work  done  in  the  school, 
but  as  that  is  already  receiving  consideration  by 
the  press  and  in  a  few  schools,  I  shall  not  in  this 
short  article  treat  of  it. 

The  plan  I  have  in  mind  will  cost  no  money,  will 
take  but  little  school  time,  and  can  be  put  into 
operation  hi  every  part  of  the  State  at  once.  It 
will  create  a  demand  for  expert  instruction  later 
on.  It  is  to  give  school  credit  for  industrial  work 
done  at  home.  The  mother  and  father  are  to  be 
recognized  as  teachers,  and  the  school  teacher  put 
into  the  position  of  one  who  cares  about  the  habits 
and  tastes  of  the  whole  child.  Then  the  teacher  and 
the  parents  will  have  much  in  common.  Every 
home  has  the  equipment  for  industrial  work  and 
has  some  one  who  uses  it  with  more  or  less  skill. 

The  school  has  made  so  many  demands  on  the 
home  that  the  parents  have  in  some  cases  felt  that 
all  the  time  of  the  child  must  be  given  to  the 
school.  But  an  important  thing  that  the  child 
needs  along  with  school  work  is  established  habits 
of  home-making.  What  people  do  depends  as  much 
upon  habit  as  upon  knowledge.  The  criticism  that 
is  most  often  made  upon  industrial  work  at  school 


INTRODUCTION  5 

is  that  it  is  so  different  from  the  work  done  in  the 
home  that  it  does  not  put  the  child  into  that  sym- 
pathetic relation  with  the  home,  which  after  all 
is  for  him  and  the  home  the  most  important  thing 
in  the  world.  Juvenile  institutions  find  that  they 
must  be  careful  not  to  institutionalize  the  child  to 
such  an  extent  that  he  may  not  be  contented  in 
a  real  home.  In  my  opinion  it  will  be  a  great  thing 
for  the  child  to  want  to  help  his  parents  do  the  task 
that  needs  to  be  done  and  to  want  to  do  it  in 
the  best  possible  way.  The  reason  why  so  many 
country  boys  are  now  leading  men  of  affairs  is  be- 
cause early  in  life  they  had  home  responsibilities 
thrust  upon  them.  I  am  sure  that  the  motto 
"Everybody  Helps"  is  a  good  one. 

But  one  says:  "How  can  it  be  brought  about? 
How  can  the  school  give  credit  for  industrial  work 
done  at  home?"  It  may  be  done  by  sending 
home  printed  slips  asking  the  parents  to  take  ac- 
count of  the  work  that  the  child  does  at  home 
under  their  instruction,  and  explaining  that  credit 
will  be  given  for  this  work  on  the  school  record. 
These  slips  must  be  used  according  to  the  age  of 
the  child,  so  that  he  will  not  be  asked  to  do  too 
much,  for  it  must  be  clearly  recognized  that  chil- 
dren must  have  time  for  real  play.  The  required 
tasks  must  not  be  too  arduous,  yet  they  must  be 
real  tasks.  They  must  not  be  tasks  that  will  put 
extra  work  on  parents  except  in  the  matter  of 
instruction  and  observation.  They  may  well  call 
for  the  care  of  animals,  and  should  include  garden 
work  for  both  boys  and  girls.  Credit  in  school  for 
home  industrial  work  (with  the  parents'  consent) 
should  count  as  much  as  any  one  study  in  school. 


6      SCHOOL  CEEDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

To  add  interest  to  the  work,  exhibitions  should 
be  given  at  stated  times  so  that  all  may  learn  from 
each  other  and  the  best  be  the  model  for  all.  The 
school  fairs  in  Yamhill,  Polk,  Benton,  Lane, 
Wasco,  and  Crook  Counties,  together  with  the 
school  and  home  industrial  work  done  at  Eugene, 
have  convinced  me  most  thoroughly  that  these 
plans  are  practicable,  and  that  school  work  and 
home  work,  school  play  and  home  play,  and  love 
for  parents  and  respect  for  teachers  and  fellow 
pupils  can  best  be  fostered  by  a  more  complete 
cooperation  between  school  and  home,  so  that  the 
whole  child  is  taken  into  account  at  all  times. 

After  the  home-credit  schools  of  Mr.  O'Reilly 
and  Mr.  Conklin  were  well  under  way,  I  re- 
ceived many  inquiries  about  the  home  credit 
idea.  As  I  was  then  State  Superintendent,  I 
had  a  pamphlet  printed  by  the  State  Office, 
describing  the  workings  of  the  plan,  and  had 
it  distributed  to  Oregon  teachers.  Fifteen 
thousand  copies  were  also  printed  for  Mr. 
Claxton,  Commissioner  of  Education,  in  the 
summer  of  1912,  and  distributed  by  the 
National  Bureau  to  superintendents  and 
teachers  throughout  the  United  States.  Since 
this  pamphlet  has  been  out  of  print  there 
have  been  many  inquiries  sent  me  about 
home  credit,  and  I  hope  that  this  book  may 
answer  some  of  them. 


n 

MARY 

The  brain  and  the  hand,  too  long  divorced,  and  each  mean 
and  weak  without  the  other;  use  and  beauty,  each  alone  vulgar; 
letters  and  labor,  each  soulless  without  the  other,  are  hence- 
forth to  be  one  and  inseparable;  and  this  union  will  lift  man  to 
a  higher  level.  —  G.  STANLEY  HALL. 

1  THE  idea  of  giving  school  credit  for  home 
work  first  occurred  to  me  when  I  was  a  high- 
school  principal  in  McMinnville,  Oregon,  in 
1901.  Often,  in  the  few  years  that  I  had  been 
teaching,  I  had  felt  keenly  a  lack  of  under- 
standing between  school  and  home.  As  I  was 
thinking  over  this  problem,  and  wondering 
what  could  be  done,  I  chanced  to  meet  on  the 
street  the  mother  of  one  of  my  rosiest-cheeked, 
strongest-looking  high-school  girls.  I  saw 
that  the  little  mother  looked  forlorn  and 
tired.  There  was  a  nervous  twitch  of  the 
hand  that  adjusted  the  robes  about  the  crip- 
pled child  she  was  wheeling  in  a  baby  buggy. 
I  had  frequently  noticed  that  Mary,  the 
daughter,  who  was  one  of  the  very  poorest 
students  in  her  class,  was  on  the  streets  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  after  school  hours. 


8     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

I  thought,  "What  value  can  there  be  in  my 
teaching  that  girl  quadratic  equations  and 
the  nebular  hypothesis,  when  what  she  most 
needs  to  learn  is  the  art  of  helping  her  mother? 
In  the  algebra  recitation  next  day  I  asked, 
"How  many  helped  with  the  work  before 
coming  to  school?"  Hands  were  raised,  but 
not  Mary's.  "How  many  got  breakfast?" 
Hands  again,  not  Mary's.  "I  made  some 
bread  a  few  days  ago,  bread  that  kept,  and 
kept,  and  kept  on  keeping.  How  many  of 
you  know  how  to  make  bread?  "  Some  hands, 
not  Mary's.  I  then  announced  that  the  lesson 
for  the  following  day  would  consist  as  usual 
of  ten  problems  in  advance,  but  that  five 
would  be  in  the  book,  and  five  out  of  the 
book.  The  five  out  of  the  book  for  the  girls 
would  consist  of  helping  with  supper,  helping 
with  the  kitchen  work  after  supper,  preparing 
breakfast,  helping  with  the  dishes  and  kitchen 
work  after  breakfast,  and  putting  a  bedroom 
in  order.  Surprise  and  merriment  gave  place 
to  enthusiasm  when  the  boys  and  girls  saw 
that  I  was  in  downright  earnest.  When  I 
asked  for  a  report  on  the  algebra  lesson  next 
day  all  hands  went  up  for  all  the  problems 


MARY  9 

both  in  algebra  and  in  home-helping.  As 
I  looked  my  approval,  all  hands  fell  again, 
that  is,  all  hands  but  Mary's.  "What  is  it, 
Mary? "  I  asked.  "I  worked  five  in  advance," 
she  replied  with  sparkling  eyes:  "I  worked 
all  you  gave  us,  and  five  ahead  in  the  book  I" 

Since  that  day  I  have  been  a  firm  believer 
in  giving  children  credit  at  school  for  work 
done  at  home.  We  did  not  work  home  prob- 
lems every  day  that  year,  but  at  various  times 
the  children  were  assigned  lessons  like  the 
one  mentioned,  and  scarcely  a  day  passed 
that  we  did  not  talk  over  home  tasks,  and 
listen  to  the  boys  and  girls  as  they  told  what 
each  had  achieved.  The  idea  that  washing 
dishes  and  caring  for  chickens  was  of  equal 
importance  with  algebra  and  general  history, 
and  that  credit  and  honor  would  frequently 
be  given  for  home  work,  proved  a  stimulus  to 
all  the  children,  and  especially  to  Mary.  Her 
interest  in  all  her  school  duties  was  doubled, 
and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  her  mother's 
interest  in  the  school  was  many  times  in- 
creased as  her  heavy  household  cares  were  in 
part  assumed  by  her  healthy  daughter. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  first  home  credit 


10    SCHOOL  CEEDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

lesson  Mary  brought  her  luncheon  to  school. 
At  the  noon  hour  she  came  to  my  desk,  opened 
her  basket,  and  displaying  a  nicely  made 
sandwich  said,  "I  made  this  bread."  The 
bread  looked  good,  and  must  have  been  all 
right,  for  she  ate  the  sandwich,  and  it  did  not 
seem  to  hurt  her.  She  came  again  wearing 
a  pretty  new  shirt-waist,  and  told  me  she  had 
made  it  herself,  and  that  it  had  cos t_  just 
eighty-five  cents. 

After  Mary  graduated  from  high  school 
she  went  out  into  the  country  to  teach,  and 
boarded  with  her  uncle's  family.  Her  uncle's 
wife  was  ill  for  a  while,  and  Mary  showed 
that  she  knew  how  to  cook  a  fine  meal,  and 
how  to  set  a  table  so  that  the  food  looked  good 
to  eat.  She  made  herself  generally  useful. 
Her  uncle  came  to  my  office  one  day  and  told 
me  that  Mary  was  the  finest  girl  he  ever  saw, 
and  that  every  girl  like  that  should  go  to 
college,  and  that  he  was  going  to  see  that  she 
went  to  college  if  he  had  to  sell  the  farm  to 
send  her.  She  went  to  college,  but  it  did  n't 
take  the  farm  to  send  her. 


Ill 

THE  SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL 

An  excellent  result  of  the  absence  of  centralization  in  the 
United  States.  .  .  .  The  widest  possible  scope  being  allowed 
to  individual  and  local  preferences,  .  .  .  one  part  of  our  vast 
country  can  profit  by  the  experience  of  the  other  parts. 

JOHN  FISKE. 

Kindly  convey  my  blessing  to  that  genius  of  a  teacher  in 
Spring  Valley,  the  same  to  stand  good  till  judgment  day. 

WM.  HAWLBT  SMITH. 

MB.  A.  I.  O'REILLY,  in  the  school  at 
Spring  Valley,  Oregon,  was  the  first  to  give 
systematic,  certified  .^p^OTF  for  home  work. 
He  originated  the  idea  of  having  a  prize 
contest  for  credits,  and  put  care  for  health 
and  cleanliness  on  the  list  of  home  duties. 
Dr.  Winship  classifies  new  educational  sug- 
gestions as  dreams,  nightmares,  and  visions. 
The  remarkable  success  of  Mr.  O'Reilly  in 
his  home  credit  school  should  place  his  ideas 
in  the  "vision"  list. 

Spring  Valley  is  a  rich  farming  district  in 
Polk  County,  Oregon,  about  nine  miles  from 
Salem.  Mr.  O'Reilly  took  the  school  in  the 
fall  of  1909.  He  rented  a  farmhouse  about 
half  a  mile  away,  brought  his  wife  and  little 


12    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

boys  out  from  Dakota,  where  he  had  served 
as  county  superintendent,  and  went  to  work 
building  up  his  school.  He  gained  great 
influence  with  the  boys  and  girls,  and  was 
much  respected  and  thoroughly  liked  by 
everybody. 

He  noticed  that  on  each  big,  well-developed 
farm  in  the  neighborhood  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  work  for  the  boys  and  girls  to  do,  but 
that  they  did  not  as  a  rule  do  it  with  cheer- 
fulness and  interest.  He  wanted,  if  possible, 
to  change  their  attitude  of  mind.  So,  with  the 
hearty  approval  of  his  board  of  directors,  he 
arranged  to  give  school  credit  for  home  work. 
This  was  in  the  fall  of  1911.  Various  tasks 
that  the  children  ought  to  do  he  put  into  a 
list,  and  allowed  a  certain  number  of  minutes 
credit  for  each  one.1  The  three  children  hav- 
ing earned  the  greatest  number  of  credits  at 
the  close  of  the  nine  school  months  were  to 
receive  three  dollars  each,  and  the  three  next 
highest,  two  dollars.  The  money  was  to  be 
allowed  by  the  school  board,  and  put  into  the 
savings  bank  to  the  credit  of  the  prize- 

1  The  details  of  Mr.  O'Reilly's  plan  are  given  in  Part  Two, 
pages  73-77. 


THE  SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL          13 

winners.  Every  one  of  the  thirty-three  pupils 
in  the  school  was  enrolled  in  this  new  kind 
of  contest.  The  registering  of  the  credits  each 
morning  meant  extra  work  for  the  teacher, 
but  it  brought  extra  results.  The  prospect  of 
a  bank  account  for  the  winners  incited  the 
children  to  learn  for  the  first  time  something 
about  banks  and  banking.  There  was  a  "we- 
are-doing-some thing"  atmosphere  through- 
out the  school. 

In  answer  to  the  query  of  some  visitors  if 
this  giving  of  credit  for  home  work  did  not 
interfere  with  school  work,  Mr.  O'Reilly 
pointed  to  the  record  in  the  county  spelling 
contest,  in  which  his  school  had  earned  100 
per  cent  that  month. 

The  county  superintendent,  Mr.  Seymour, 
had  announced  that  a  banner  would  be  given 
to  his  rural  schools  showing  that  they  were 
standard  schools  as  soon  as  they  should  meet 
certain  requirements.  These  requirements 
were  well-drained  school  grounds;  school 
building  properly  lighted,  heated,  and  venti- 
lated; schoolhouse  and  grounds  neat  and 
attractive;  sanitary  outbuildings;  walk  made 
to  building  and  outbuildings;  individual 


14     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

drinking-cups;  the  purchase  each  year  of  one 
standard  picture;  thorough  work  on  the  part 
of  teacher  and  pupils;  the  enrollment  of  every 
pupil  in  the  spelling  contest;  and  an  average 
of  95  per  cent  in  attendance.  Spring  Valley 
was  the  first  school  in  the  county  to  receive 
the  banner  and  become  a  standard  school. 

The  county  superintendents  of  Oregon 
were  assembled  at  Salem  in  January,  1912, 
for  the  purpose  of  grading  teachers'  examina- 
tion papers.  They  were  much  interested  in 
what;  they  heard  of  Mr.  O'Reilly's  work 
at  Spring  Valley  and  accepted  with  great 
pleasure  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Seymour  to 
visit  the  school.  As  that  day  in  Mr.  O'Reilly's 
school  is  significant,  I  wish  to  quote  an  article 
about  it  written  by  T.  J.  Gary,  superintend- 
ent of  Clackamas  County.  Mr.  Gary's  arti- 
cle was  printed  in  one  of  the  Oregon  City 
papers  in  January,  1912. 

Last  Saturday  seventeen  county  school  super- 
intendents and  the  superintendent  of  public 
instruction  drove  through  the  wind  and  rain  to 
Spring  Valley,  Polk  County,  to  attend  a  parent- 
teachers'  meeting.  Why?  Because  we  had  heard 
much  of  a  new  plan  that  was  being  tried  out  by 
the  teacher,  pupils,  and  parents  of  the  school  in 


THE  SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL          15 

that  beautiful  valley.  Did  we  go  because  it  was  a 
new  plan?  No.  If  we  should  try  to  investigate 
every  new  plan  we  would  be  going  all  the  time. 
We  went  because  we  thought  we  saw  a  suggestion, 
at  least,  of  a  solution  of  two  very  important  prob- 
lems: "How  to  bring  the  school  and  the  home  into 
closer  relation,"  and  "How  to  make  the  boys  and 
the  girls  in  the  country  love  their  home." 

We  arrived  at  the  Spring  Valley  School  at  10.30 
A.M.  and  observed  first  a  board  walk  from  the  road 
to  the  schoolhouse  door  and  a  well-drained  school- 
yard free  from  all  rubbish,  such  as  sticks,  pieces 
of  paper,  and  so  forth. 

Upon  entering  the  room  we  observed  that  the 
directors  had  made  provision  for  the  proper  heat- 
ing, lighting,  and  ventilation  of  the  schoolroom. 
On  the  walls  were  three  nicely  framed  pictures, 
the  "Sistine  Madonna,"  "The  Christ,"  and  "The 
Lions,"  all  beautiful  reproductions  of  celebrated 
works  of  art.  The  building  was  a  modest  one, 
much  like  many  school  buildings  we  find  through 
the  country,  but  there  was  about  it  that  which 
said  plainer  than  words  can  say  it,  "This  is  a  well- 
ordered  school." 

Looking  to  the  right,  we  saw  on  a  partition  wall, 
on  the  floor,  and  on  the  side  wall,  a  variety  of  arti- 
cles: aprons,  dresses,  doilies,  handbags,  handker- 
chiefs, kites,  traps,  bird  houses,  and  various  other 
things  made  by  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  school. 
At  the  left  in  the  other  corner  of  the  room  were 
loaves  of  bread,  pies,  cakes,  tarts,  doughnuts,  and 
other  tempting  things  prepared  by  the  girls  and 
boys.  The  writer  sampled  various  edibles,  among 
them  a  cake  baked  by  Master  Z ,  son  of  our 


16     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

ex-superintendent,  J.  C.  Z .  I  can  cheerfully 

say  that  it  was  the  kind  of  cake  that  makes  a  man 
want  more. 

These  things  were  all  of  interest  to  us,  but  the 
one  thing  we  were  most  curious  to  know  about 
was  the  system  the  teacher  had  of  giving  credits 
for  home  work;  not  school  work  done  at  home, 
but  all  kinds  of  honest  work  a  country  girl  or  boy 
can  find  to  do.  Pupils  were  given  five  minutes 
credit  for  milking  a  cow,  five  minutes  for  sleeping 
in  fresh  air,  five  minutes  for  taking  a  bath,  and  so 
on  through  the  long  list  of  common  duties  incident 
to  home  life  in  the  country.  The  rule  of  the  school 
is  that  any  pupil  who  has  earned  six  hundred 
minutes  may  have  a  holiday,  at  the  discretion  of 
the  teacher.  If  the  pupil  asks  for  a  holiday  to  use 
for  some  worthy  cause  the  teacher  grants  it,  pro- 
viding it  does  not  interfere  too  much  with  the 
pupil's  school  work. 

Space  will  not  permit  my  giving  a  more  detailed 
account  of  the  plan.  I  trust  that  enough  has  been 
given  to  show  the  principle  involved.  The  teacher 
was  subjected  to  volley  after  volley  of  questions 
from  the  superintendents,  but  was  able  to  answer 
all  of  them  with  alacrity.  The  chairman  called 
upon  the  parents  to  give  their  testimony  as  to  the 
success  of  the  movement.  I  cannot  write  here  all 
that  was  said,  but  will  give  two  statements  as 
fair  samples  of  all. 

One  good  motherly-looking  country  woman  said : 
"Before  this  plan  was  started  I  got  up  in  the 
morning  and  prepared  breakfast  for  the  family, 
and  after  breakfast  saw  to  the  preparation  of  the 
children  for  school.  Now,  when  morning  comes 


THE  SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL         17 

the  girls  insist  upon  my  lying  in  bed  so  that  they 
may  get  breakfast.  After  breakfast  they  wash  the 
dishes,  sweep  the  kitchen,  and  do  many  other 
things  as  well  as  make  their  own  preparation  for 
school.  I  think  the  plan  is  a  success.  My  only  fear 
is  that  it  will  make  me  lazy." 

One  father  said:  "I  have  two  boys  —  one  in  the 
high  school  and  Jack,  here.  It  was  as  hard  work 
to  get  the  older  boy  out  in  the  morning  as  it  was 
to  do  the  chores,  and  as  Jack  was  too  young  to  be 
compelled  to  do  the  work,  I  let  them  both  sleep 
while  I  did  it.  Now,  when  the  alarm  sounds,  I 
hear  Jack  tumbling  out  of  bed,  and  when  I  get  up 
I  find  the  fires  burning  and  the  stock  at  the  barn 
cared  for;  so  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  look  happy,  eat 
my  breakfast,  and  go  about  my  business.  Yes, 
it  is  a  great  success  in  our  home." 

At  this  point  Superintendent  Alderman  said: 
"Jack,  stand,  we  want  to  see  you,"  and  Jack,  a 
bright,  manly-appearing  country  boy  of  fourteen 
years  stood  blushing,  while  we  looked  our  appreci- 
ation. 

One  man  told  of  the  many  things  that  his 
daughter  had  done,  whereupon  it  was  suggested 
that  she  might  do  so  much  that  her  health  would 
be  in  danger.  A  pleasant  smile  flitted  across  the 
face  of  the  father  as  he  said,  "Daughter,  stand 
and  let  these  men  see  if  they  think  you  are  injur- 
ing your  health."  A  bright,  buxom,  rosy-cheeked 
girl  —  the  very  picture  of  health  and  happiness  — 
arose  while  we  laughed  and  cheered. 

To  the  question,  "Does  this  work  interfere  with 
the  work  of  the  school?"  the  teacher  pointed  to 
the  record  of  the  school  in  a  spelling  contest  that 


18     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

is  being  conducted  in  this  county,  and  read 
"100  per  cent  for  this  month;  98.12  per  cent  for 
last,"  and  said,  "No,  I  find  that  the  children  have 
taken  more  interest  in  their  work  and  are  making 
more  progress  than  before." 

When  alone,  after  time  for  reflection,  I  thought, 
"One  swallow  does  not  make  a  summer"  and  one 
school  does  not  prove  that  this  is  a  good  plan.  In 
Spring  Valley  the  conditions  are  ideal,  —  a  board 
of  directors  who  do  then*  duty,  a  citizenship  that  is 
far  above  the  average,  girls  and  boys  from  well- 
ordered  homes  of  a  prosperous  people,  a  teacher 
who  would  succeed  anywhere  with  half  a  chance, 
a  wide-awake,  sympathetic  county  school  super- 
intendent, —  and  yet  I  thought  if  this  is  good  for 
the  Spring  Valley  School,  might  it  not  be  a  good 
thing  for  all  our  schools?  I  have  not  reached  a 
conclusion,  but  have  had  much  food  for  thought, 
and  am  more  than  pleased  with  my  experience  and 
observation. 

What  do  you  think  about  it,  gentle  reader?  Is 
it  a  passing  fancy?  A  fad,  if  you  please?  Or  is  it  a 
means  for  training  boys  and  girls  to  habits  of 
industry  and  to  a  wholesome  respect  for  honest 
toil?  Will  it  bring  the  home  and  the  school  into 
closer  relation?  And  will  it  cause  the  country  boys 
and  girls  to  love  their  homes,  to  love  the  country 
with  its  singing  birds,  its  babbling  brooks,  its 
broad  fields  and  friendly  hills? 

There  was  not  a  school  in  the  State  that 
responded  better  to  any  movement  initiated 
by  the  State  or  county  than  the  one  in  Spring 


THE  SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL          19 

Valley.  Every  pupil  was  greatly  interested 
in  the  boys'  and  girls'  industrial  and  agricul- 
tural contest  which  Oregon  carried  on  that 
year  for  the  first  time.  The  children  raised 
cabbage  plants  at  school,  protected  from  the 
cold  by  a  tent  that  Mr.  O'Reilly  provided. 
They  planned  to  sell  them  to  the  neighbors 
in  order  to  get  money  for  seeds,  but  were 
sadly  disappointed,  when  they  came  to  school 
one  morning,  to  find  that  a  cow  had  broken 
in  during  the  night  and  destroyed  almost 
every  plant.  The  owner  of  the  cow  paid  them 
the  value  of  the  plants,  but  they  were  never 
quite  so  happy  over  the  fund  as  they  would 
have  been  if  the  plants  had  been  allowed  to 
grow. 

Six  weeks  before  the  end  of  the  school  year 
Mr.  O'Reilly  began  making  Saturday  trips 
to  Salem  to  arrange  for  the  fair  with  which  he 
intended  to  close  the  school.  The  merchants 
subscribed  liberally  for  prizes  both  for  the 
children's  work  and  for  the  athletic  events 
which  Mr.  O'Reilly  had  planned  for  the 
afternoon.  A  local  piano  house  sent  out  a 
piano  for  the  occasion,  and  an  amusement 
company  put  up  a  merry-go-round,  and 


20     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

stands  for  lemonade,  ice-cream,  and  all  the 
rest  that  goes  with  a  first-class  picnic.  The 
picnic  was  held  in  the  grove  a  short  distance 
from  the  schoolhouse.  Mr.  O'Reilly  and  the 
neighbors  had  made  a  platform  for  which  the 
children's  work  formed  the  background,  — 
dresses,  bird  houses,  fancy  work,  cakes, 
bread,  and  other  articles,  —  and  had  made 
seats  of  rough  lumber  for  the  crowd.  And  a 
crowd  it  was,  for  the  whole  county  was  inter- 
ested in  the  Spring  Valley  School.  This  was 
one  of  the  first  local  fairs  in  connection 
with  the  county  school  fairs  which  were  held 
throughout  the  State,  and  the  awards  were 
also  to  be  made  to  the  children  who  had 
earned  the  most  credits  in  the  home  credit 
contest. 

We  drove  out  from  Salem  in  automobiles. 
On  reaching  the  grove  we  found  it  filled  with 
teams  tied  everywhere,  and  many  automo- 
biles standing  about.  Promptly  at  ten  o'clock 
the  school  children  marched  down  from  the 
schoolhouse  in  an  industrial  parade,  carrying 
things  that  they  had  made  or  raised  in  the 
garden.  A  pretty  sight  they  were,  as  they 
took  their  places  on  the  reserved  benches  in 


THE  SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL          21 

front,  all  in  their  best  clothes,  most  of  the 
girls  in  white  dresses  of  their  own  making. 

The  Governor  of  Oregon  was  there,  and 
made  the  first  address.  At  the  close  of  his 
talk,  the  Spring  Valley  children  sang  in  voices 
as  clear  as  the  birds,  "There  is  no  Land  Like 
Oregon,"  and  were  most  heartily  cheered. 
After  the  remainder  of  the  addresses  and 
songs  came  the  most  breathless  part  of  the 
day,  the  awarding  of  the  school-credit  prizes 
for  the  year's  work.  A  member  of  the  school 
board  read  the  list  of  winners,  and  took  occa- 
sion to  express  the  appreciation  that  the  dis- 
trict felt  for  Mr.  O'Reilly's  work.  He  assured 
the  audience  that  the  people  of  the  district 
considered  the  plan  one  of  the  very  finest  that 
they  had  ever  known,  for  it  put  the  children 
in  the  right  attitude  toward  their  work,  and 
gave  the  parents  the  feeling  that  they  were 
assisting  in  the  work  of  the  school.  Never  in 
the  history  of  the  community  had  there  been 
such  a  year. 

The  judging  of  the  industrial  work  was 
then  carried  on,  while  the  Spring  Valley  home- 
credit  girls  set  the  long  tables  for  the  lunch- 
eon, which  they  had  prepared  without  assist- 


22     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

ance  from  their  mothers.  We  all  envied  the 
three  women  up  on  the  platform  tasting  the 
cakes,  and  were  glad  when  the  ribbons  were 
pinned  on,  for  we  knew  then  that  the  dinner 
would  begin.  The  blue  ribbon  for  cake-making 
by  children  under  thirteen  was  awarded  to  a 

boy,  Arthur  Z .  The  governor  and  I  placed 

this  lad  between  us  at  the  head  of  the  table, 
and  he  gave  us  very  generous  portions  of  the 
prize  cake. 

This  was  Mr.  O'Reilly's  last  day  with  the 
Spring  Valley  School.  The  next  year  he  was 
chosen  one  of  the  rural  school  supervisors  in 
Lane  County,  and  he  is  still  there  making  an 
excellent  record.  A  recent  letter  from  him 
briefly  takes  up  the  later  history  of  his  Spring 
Valley  winners  in  the  home  credit  contest. 
He  says :  — 

Evangeline  J was  one  of  the  winners.   She 

is  doing  finely  in  high  school,  and  still  winning 
prizes  at  fairs.  She  leads  her  class  in  domestic 
science  in  the  Eugene  High  School.  She  has  eighty 
dollars  in  the  bank,  sixty-one  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  earned  from  prizes.  You  know  the  home 
Credit  started  her  bank  account  with  three  dollars. 

Golda  B is  another.    She  is  attending  the 

high  school  at  Sheridan.  Her  standings  are  fine. 
She  very  seldom  has  to  take  examinations.  She  has 


THE  SPRING  VALLEY  SCHOOL          23 

about  seventy-five  dollars  in  the  bank.  Jack  S — 
has  finished  the  eighth  grade,  and  is  going  to 
attend  high  school  in  Eugene  this  year.  His  bank 
account  is  thirty-seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 

Mabel  S has  finished  the  grades  and  will  go 

to  high  school  in  Hopewell  this  year.  Her  bank 
account  is  thirty-eight  dollars.  She  has  a  piano 
her  father  got  her,  and  is  doing  well  in  music. 

Verda  R attends  high  school  in  Eugene  this 

year.  The  other  winners  are  still  little  ones,  and 
are  attending  school  in  Spring  Valley. 


IV 

WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  THE  ALGEBRA? 

Present  interest  is  the  grand  motive  power.  —  ROUSSEAU. 

An  objection  to  the  introduction  of  new  subjects  is  that 
children  are  already  overworked  in  school.  There  is,  however, 
a  precaution  against  overwork;  it  is  making  school  work  inter- 
esting to  the  children.  To  introduce  new  and  higher  subjects 
into  the  school  program  is  not  necessarily  to  increase  the  strain 
upon  the  child.  If  this  measure  increases  the  interest  and 
attractiveness  of  the  work  and  the  sense  of  achievement,  it 
will  diminish  weariness  and  the  risk  of  hurtful  strain. 

CHARLES  W.  ELIOT. 

WHEN  I  was  county  superintendent  in 
Yamhill  County  I  used  to  talk  much  of  the 
home  credit  plan  in  local  institutes.  One  day 
when  I  was  explaining  how  the  plan  worked, 
and  how  I  had  given  credit  in  algebra  for 
home  activities,  a  teacher  arose  in  the  audi- 
ence and  said  he  was  willing  to  go  almost  any 
length  with  me,  but  he  thought  it  was  going 
too  far  to  give  credit  in  algebra  for  what  was 
not  algebra.  "Is  it  not  dishonest?"  he  asked, 
"and  will  it  not  teach  dishonesty?  Besides,  if 
you  give  credit  in  this  way  for  things  not  al- 
gebra, what  will  become  of  the  algebra?"  This 
is  an  unsettled  problem:  what  will  become  of 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  ALGEBRA?    25 

the  algebra?  True,  Mary  got  more  algebra! 
I  put  this  unsettled  question  alongside  of 
another.  I  was  arguing  for  the  consolidation 
of  schools  in  a  little  district  near  a  larger  dis- 
trict, and  had  tried  to  show  that  consolidation 
would  be  much  cheaper,  and  would  bring 
greater  advantages,  when  a  man  stood  up 
and  said  that  he  agreed  in  general  with  the 
plan  but  that  it  would  not  work  in  this  dis- 
trict, "for,"  said  he,  "this  district  has  a  cem- 
etery deeded  to  it,  and  if  the  district  should 
lose  its  identity,  what  would  become  of  the 
cemetery?"  As  these  questions  are  similar, 
I  put  the  algebra  into  the  cemetery. 

I  believe  in  algebra,  but  in  order  to  teach 
algebra  I  believe  it  is  first  necessary  to  see  to 
it  that  the  child  is  in  a  constructive  frame  of 
mind.  He  should  be  in  harmony  with  his  sur- 
roundings. When  Mary  became  interested  in 
her  home,  she  was  in  a  mood  to  work  problems 
in  advance.  When  her  home  was  neglected, 
her  algebra  problems  were  all  in  arrears. 

Even  though  we  omitted  the  consideration 
of  the  health,  the  morals,  and  the  working 
ability  of  the  pupils,  the  home  credit  system 
would  be  justified  as  a  part  of  the  school  work 


26    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

because  of  its  revitalizing  effect  on  the  regu- 
lar school  work.  The  teacher  who  succeeds 
in  touching  the  hidden  springs  of  youthful 
interest  is  doing  more  for  humanity  than 
the  man  who  discovers  the  much-sought-for 
method  of  bringing  static  electricity  out  of 
space.  A  child,  or  a  man  either  for  that  mat- 
ter, is  a  dynamo  of  energy  when  interested. 
Many  people  think  that  children  in  school 
are  overworked;  in  my  opinion  they  are  more 
often  underinterested.  One  little  lad  of  about 
five,  taking  a  Sunday  walk  with  grown  people, 
told  his  father  that  he  was  very  tired,  that 
his  legs  fairly  ached,  and  that  he  would 
have  to  be  carried  or  else  camp  right  there. 
A  member  of  the  party  (I  wish  I  could  re- 
member his  name,  for  he  was  a  good  child 
psychologist)  said  to  the  boy,  "Why,  sure, 
you  don't  have  to  walk.  I  '11  get  you  a  horse." 
He  cut  a  stick  horse  and  a  switch.  The  boy 
mounted  at  a  bound,  whipped  his  steed  up 
and  down  the  road,  beating  up  the  dust  in 
circles  around  the  crowd.  By  the  time  he 
reached  home  he  had  ridden  the  stick  horse 
twice  as  far  as  the  others  had  walked,  and 
had  not  remembered  that  he  was  tired. 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  ALGEBRA?    27 

My  first  trial  of  home  credits  convinced  me 
that  children  would  do  better  school  work 
because  of  the  plan.  I  have  letters  from  many 
teachers  through  the  Northwest  bearing  me 
out  in  my  opinion.  I  quote:  "It  stimulates 
to  better  work  in  school."  "The  teachers 
notice  an  improvement  in  school  work  along 
all  lines."  "It  has  helped  to  make  our  school, 
in  some  respects  at  least,  as  good  as  any  in  the 
county,  according  to  the  county  superintend- 
ent's own  word.  A  member  of  the  board  says 
the  children  have  never  made  such  progress 
since  the  school  was  built,  and  all  say  these 
children  have  never  made  so  much  progress 
before."  Tardiness  is  reported  to  be  much 
less  in  home  credit  schools. 

A  prominent  Western  dairyman  remarked 
that  arithmetic  had  always  been  a  hopeless 
subject  for  him.  He  declared  that  arithmeti- 
cally he  was  "born  short."  A  listener  in- 
quired if  he  had  any  trouble  in  keeping 
accounts,  in  figuring  out  the  profits  on  each 
dairy  cow,  or  in  doing  other  problems  con- 
nected with  his  farm.  He  replied  very  quickly, 
"No,  not  at  all.  I  don't  have  any  trouble  with 
anything  except  arithmetic."  Home  credits 


28    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

take  into  account  the  out-of-school  mathe- 
matical activities.  So  the  boy  who  has  meas- 
ured a  cord  of  wood,  laid  out  a  garden  plot, 
figured  out  the  costs,  income,  and  profits  of 
feeding  a  pig  for  a  year,  or  solved  any  prob- 
lem that  conies  up  on  the  farm,  will  be  con- 
sidered to  have  done  something  in  arithmetic. 
From  Auburn,  Washington,  comes  a  story 
of  the  effect  of  giving  school  credits  for  gar- 
age and  shop  work.  Joe,  a  boy  of  seventeen, 
who  had  attended  high  school  for  a  year  and  a 
half,  had  earned  only  three  academic  credits, 
and  his  other  work  was  below  passing.  The 
superintendent,  Mr.  Todd,  called  a  confer- 
ence with  Joe's  parents  and,  to  use  his  own 
expression,  went  after  Joe  "with  hammer  and 
tongs."  After  much  discussion,  the  superin- 
tendent finally  asked  the  father  and  mother 
what  the  boy  seemed  most  interested  in  out- 
side of  school.  Exchanging  a  troubled  glance 
with  his  wife,  the  father  said  that  as  soon  as 
Joe  got  out  of  school  he  rushed  straight  to 
Meade's  garage.  So  the  superintendent  went 
to  the  garage,  and  found  that  Joe  could  be 
taken  into  Mr.  Meade's  employment  for  the 
afternoons.  Again  he  called  Joe  to  his  office, 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  ALGEBRA?    29 

and  said  to  him,  "Now,  see  here.  You  are 
going  on  with  your  regular  subjects  here  in 
school,  and  in  addition  you  are  going  to  do 
some  work  down  in  Meade's  garage.  Mr. 
Meade  is  going  to  grade  your  work  and  send 
in  his  report  to  me.  If  you  make  good  there  it 
will  help  out  your  record  here.  You  will  get 
pay  for  your  work,  too.  You  have  got  it  in 
you  to  make  good,  and  I  know  you  will.  What 
do  you  think  about  it?  "  "  I  think  it 's  bully ! " 
exclaimed  Joe. 

Joe  had  failed  in  his  geometry,  but  as  soon 
as  he  took  the  position  at  the  garage  his  work 
in  geometry  improved.  It  was  about  Christ- 
mas that  he  began  working,  and  at  the  time 
of  the  report  several  months  later  he  was 
doing  well  in  his  mathematics.  The  credit 
he  received  from  the  garage  counted  toward 
his  marks  for  high-school  graduation.  Mr. 
Meade,  incidentally,  was  very  much  pleased 
with  his  part  in  the  transaction,  and  sent 
in  his  reports  with  religious  regularity. 

Not  only  Joe,  but  some  half  dozen  other 
boys  in  Mr.  Todd's  school  at  Auburn  are  now 
"  farmed  out "  in  this  manner,  and  work  down- 
town under  regular  contract.  They  are  mostly 


30    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

boys  who  had  lost  interest  in  school,  and 
were  at  the  dropping-out  stage.  Mr.  Todd's 
plan  is  similar  to  the  one  in  use  at  Fitch- 
burg,  Massachusetts. 

Herbert  M ,  of  Minnehaha,  Washing- 
ton, is  such  a  busy  boy  at  home  that  he  does 
not  have  time  to  look  at  a  book  after  he  leaves 
school.  This  year,  1914,  Mr.  W.  E.  Dudley, 
the  principal  of  the  Minnehaha  school,  began 
to  give  credit  for  home  work  and  allowed  the 
credits  obtained  to  be  applied  where  most 
needed.  The  first  month  of  school  this  year 
Herbert's  arithmetic  grade  was  below  65  per 
cent;  his  last  month's  grade  in  the  same  sub- 
ject, without  adding  any  credits,  was  above 
95  per  cent.  At  first  Herbert  needed  his  extra 
credits  applied  to  his  mathematics  to  obtain 
a  passing  grade.  But  for  some  cause  his  work 
in  arithmetic  has  improved  wonderfully. 

If  you  care  to  get  up  at  five  o'clock  and  go 
through  the  day  with  Herbert  it  may  open 
your  eyes  as  to  what  an  industrious  boy  of 
fifteen  does  at  home.  He  is  always  up  early, 
for  before  the  day's  work  begins  he  milks  two 
cows,  feeds  three  "skim-milk"  calves  and 
eight  head  of  cattle,  pumps  water  for  them, 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  ALGEBRA?    31 

and  feeds  nine  pigs.  He  is  then  ready  for  a 
hearty  breakfast.  One  morning  in  March, 
Herbert  and  his  father  agreed  that  har- 
rowing was  more  important  than  going  to 
school.  So  he  worked  five  hours,  harrowing 
four  and  a  half  acres.  Herbert  did  not  lose 
credit  at  school,  for  his  teacher  approved  of 
his  morning's  work,  as  he  knew  how  impor- 
tant it  was.  He  was  at  school  before  the  one- 
o'clock  bell  rang,  had  a  game  of  ball  with  the 
boys,  and  was  ready  for  his  lessons  of  the 
afternoon.  At  four  o'clock  he  hurried  home, 
and  this  is  what  he  did  before  he  went  to 
bed.  First,  he  herded  six  cows  for  over  an 
hour,  milked  two  cows,  fed  his  skim-milk 
calves,  got  in  the  wood,  fed  the  chickens, 
gathered  the  eggs,  cleaned  two  barns,  fed  the 
eight  head  of  cattle,  pumped  water  for  them, 
fed  the  pigs,  and  turned  the  separator  ten 
minutes. 

While  Herbert  has  had  some  trouble  with 
his  arithmetic  he  does  fine  work  in  composi- 
tion. At  the  children's  fair  at  Spokane  in 
October,  1913,  he  won  fifteen  dollars  in  cash 
for  the  best  essay  on  caring-  for  a  skim-milk 
calf,  and  a  pair  of  scales  as  second  prize  for 


32    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

an  essay  on  how  to  handle  a  farm  separator. 
Here  are  Herbert's  prizes  for  three  years:  In 
1911  at  the  county  fair  at  Vancouver,  Wash- 
ington, he  got  the  second  award,  a  diploma, 
on  his  farm  exhibit;  in  1912  as  first  prize  on 
farm  exhibit  he  won  a  trip  to  the  fair  at 
Puyallup;  in  1913  at  the  Clarke  County  fair 
he  received  ten  dollars'  worth  of  garden  seeds 
as  second  prize  on  farm  exhibit,  fifteen  dol- 
lars in  cash  for  judging  dairy  cattle,  while 
together  with  his  parents  he  won  seventy-five 
dollars  for  the  best  adult  farm  exhibit;  and 
at  the  children's  state  contest,  1913,  he  re- 
ceived the  first  prize,  fifteen  dollars,  for  the 
skim-milk  calf  essay. 

A  boy  in  one  of  the  Portland,  Oregon, 
schools  had  trouble  with  his  spelling,  getting 
a  mark  of  only  4|  on  a  scale  of  10.  Soon  after 
home  credits  were  put  into  use  by  his  teacher 
he  came  to  her  and  anxiously  inquired  if  he 
could  help  out  his  spelling  grade  with  a  good 
home  record.  The  teacher  graciously  assured 
him  that  he  could.  The  boy  brought  in  each 
week  one  of  the  very  best  home  record  slips, 
and  in  some  mysterious  manner  his  spelling 
improved  as  his  hours  of  work  increased.  He 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  ALGEBRA?     33 

does  not  need  his  home  record  to  help  out  his 
spelling  grade  now,  for  last  month  he  received 
more  than  a  passing  mark,  7f  in  his  weak 
subject.  The  knowledge  that  there  was  help 
at  hand  relieved  his  nervousness,  and  gave 
him  confidence. 


V 

HONORING  LABOR 

She  .  .  .  worketh  willingly  with  her  hands  .  .  .  and  eateth 
not  the  bread  of  idleness.  Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands; 
and  let  her  own  works  praise  her  in  the  gates. 

Proverbs  xxxi,  13,  27,  81. 

WE  are  still  paying  a  heavy  price  for  slave 
labor;  for  instance,  the  idea  that  it  is  un- 
dignified to  cook  has  come  down  through  the 
ages  of  slaveholding,  and  has  got  into  some 
people's  blood.  The  school  by  taking  into 
account  home  tasks  can  make  them  seem 
worth  while  and  thus  dignify  their  doing. 
Many  persons  do  not  work  because  their 
ideals  are  made  at  school,  and  their  heroes 
are  those  who  did  not  win  honor  at  labor,  or, 
at  least,  the  labor  of  these  heroes  is  not 
emphasized. 

In  the  case  of  Mary,  the  work  she  did  at 
home  transformed  her  from  a  heedless  girl 
into  a  sympathetic  helper.  She  had  the  idea 
that  too  many  young  people  have,  that  it 
is  more  honorable  to  study  algebra  than  to 
wash  dishes  or  to  cook  a  meal.  The  minute 


HONORING  LABOR  35 

that  she  saw  that  they  were  considered  equal 
she  no  longer  held  back  from  the  home  work, 
and  when  in  a  constructive  frame  of  mind 
she  not  only  did  the  home  work  but  did  her 
algebra  too.  There  is  not  a  normal  American 
boy  who  shrinks  from  a  piece  of  work  because 
he  thinks  it  is  hard.  On  the  contrary,  he  likes 
the  man's  job,  and  seeks  out  the  hard  things 
and  tackles  them.  He  avoids  the  things  he 
thinks  are  not  worth  while.  So  it  becomes  a 
matter  of  the  child's  point  of  view  whether 
he  likes  his  work  or  not.  Too  often  it  is  the 
case  that  the  child  never  hears  it  suggested 
that  there  is  any  merit  in  home  work  within 
itself.  He  has  the  idea  that  he  goes  to  school 
to  get  an  education,  and  works  at  home 
because  he  has  to.  Many  parents  frankly 
tell  their  children  that  they  should  study  well 
at  school  so  they  can  make  a  living  "without 
working." 

When  we  give  home  work  its  proper  recog- 
nition, and  the  child  comes  to  understand  that 
there  are  different  degrees  of  efficiency  and 
skill  in  doing  it,  the  work  will  take  on  a  new 
color.  Many  are  the  reports  that  have  come 
in  from  parents  in  home  credit  districts  say- 


36    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

ing,  "There  is  nothing  left  for  us  to  do  in  the 
way  of  chores.  The  children  used  to  seem 
indifferent  about  the  work,  and  did  as  little 
as  they  could.  Now  the  boys  get  up  before  we 
do  instead  of  waiting  to  be  called,  rush  down- 
stairs to  make  the  fires,  and  go  at  the  chores, 
while  the  girls  go  into  the  kitchen  and  start 
breakfast." 

While  youth  is  the  time  for  play,  yet  chil- 
dren like  to  work  too.  Since  we  have  had  the 
school  gardens  in  Portland  we  often  find  the 
playgrounds  vacant,  and  the  gardens  near 
by  well  filled  with  children  at  work.  We  often 
hear  that  children  should  not  have  respon- 
sibilities; yet  we  find  that  the  successful  men 
of  to-day  are  the  ones  that  bore  burdens  early. 
A  number  of  successful  business  men  in  Port- 
land were  recently  talking  together  of  their 
boyhood  days,  and  each  one  said  that  he  had 
had  to  assume  a  great  deal  of  responsibility 
before  he  was  twelve  years  old. 

The  importance  of  "percentages,"  "cred- 
its," "grades,"  or  "standings"  in  the  minds 
of  school  children,  especially  in  the  upper 
grammar  classrooms,  is  surprising  to  a 
stranger.  Even  the  drawing  teacher  is  begged 


WORK  CREDITED  AT  SCHOOL,  WESTON,  OREGON 


HONORING  LABOR  37 

to  give  marks.  "But  there  are  the  drawings, 
arranged  in  the  order  of  their  merit,  on  the 
screen.  They  can  see  which  are  the  best!" 
No,  they  want  a  mark.  "To  raise  our  stand- 
ings," they  say. 

Of  course,  we  all  feel  that  "marks"  in 
school  have  but  a  temporary  purpose;  that 
they  are  to  furnish  a  motive  to  serve  until  a 
better  motive  can  be  substituted.  Home  work 
may  be  encouraged  at  first  by  the  wish  for 
"higher  standings,"  or  a  prize,  or  a  holiday; 
but  many  other  influences  are  likely  to  come 
in  to  keep  it  up. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  teaching 
without  marks  that  is  practiced  in  a  few  mod- 
ern schools.  In  most  schools  the  system  of 
giving  percentages  is  firmly  established.  The 
honoring  of  achievement  in  the  schools,  by 
marks  or  otherwise,  has  always  been  a  great 
power  in  helping  the  school  studies  move 
along.  But  only  part  of  the  available  energy 
has  been  used.  There  are  vast  reservoirs  of 
power  which  may  be  put  at  the  service  of  ed- 
ucation and  which  as  yet  have  scarcely  been 
tapped. 

I  hope  the  giving  of  marks  will  never  be  the 


38    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

main  consideration  with  those  who  follow 
the  home  credit  idea,  but  rather  the  giving  of 
honor.  Too  long  have  pupils'  out-of -school  in- 
dustries been  ignored  at  school  as  though  they 
were  something  to  be  ashamed  of.  Whether 
we  give  formal  credit  or  not,  let  us  give  honor 
at  school  for  home  work. 


VI 

HABIT-BUILDING 

Habit  second  nature?  Habit  is  ten  times  nature. 

THE  DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON. 

HABITS  plus  ideals  make  character.  The 
establishing  of  right  habits  in  youth  can  best 
be  done  by  cooperation  of  parents  and  teach- 
ers. So  far  as  we  take  habit-building  as  our 
aim,  education  becomes  definite  and  concrete. 

At  the  close  of  his  famous  chapter  on 
"Habit,"  William  James  says:  — 

Could  the  young  but  realize  how  soon  they  will 
become  mere  walking  bundles  of  habit,  they  would 
give  more  heed  to  their  conduct  while  in  the 
plastic  state.  We  are  spinning  our  own  fates,  good 
or  evil,  and  never  to  be  undone.  Every  smallest 
stroke  of  virtue  or  of  vice  leaves  its  never  so  little 
scar.  .  .  .  Let  no  youth  have  any  anxiety  about 
the  upshot  of  his  education,  whatever  the  line  of 
it  may  be.  If  he  keep  faithfully  busy  each  hour 
of  the  working  day,  he  may  safely  leave  the  final 
result  to  itself.  He  can  with  perfect  certainty 
count  on  waking  up  some  fine  morning  to  find 
himself  one  of  the  competent  ones  of  his  genera- 
tion, in  whatever  pursuit  he  may  have  singled  out. 
....  Young  people  should  know  this  truth  in 
advance.  The  ignorance  of  it  has  probably  en- 


40    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

gendered  more  discouragement  and  faint-hearted- 
ness  in  youths  embarking  on  arduous  careers  than 
all  other  causes  put  together. 

One  habit  that  works  for  success  is  indus- 
try. How  easy  it  is  for  a  bright  boy  or  girl  to 
get  through  school  without  acquiring  any- 
thing like  a  habit  of  being  industrious,  even  in 
learning  book  lessons !  If  he  is  quick-minded, 
as  he  has  only  to  keep  up  with  the  average 
child,  he  needs  little  or  no  work  to  give  him 
a  good  standing  in  his  class.  The  alert  child 
often  gains  all  required  information  by  merely 
listening  to  the  other  pupils.  Thus  we  often 
find  failures  among  those  bright  pupils  whom 
we  expected  to  find  successful,  because  they 
did  not  learn  to  dig  and  could  do  only  what 
came  easily.  Most  occupations  demand  more 
than  an  acquiring  attitude  of  mind.  They  de- 
mand vigorous  exertion,  and  the  seeing  to  it 
that  the  thing  is  done.  But  how  is  there  to  be 
any  assurance  that  the  child  is  forming  hab- 
its of  industry  if  there  is  not  cooperation?  The 
child  tells  the  parent  that  he  has  to  prepare  his 
lessons  and  so  he  gets  out  of  work  at  home;  he 
makes  the  plea  that  he  is  tired  out  by  home 
tasks  so  that  he  may  not  be  given  hard  work 


HABIT-BUILDING  41 

at  school.  So  he  misses  the  work  habit 
entirely. 

Politeness  —  a  show  of  consideration  for 
the  rights  and  feelings  of  others  —  is  partly 
a  habit.  Careful  watching  by  parent  and 
teacher  is  needed  to  establish  this  considera- 
tion as  a  permanent  attitude  of  mind.  It  is 
with  much  pleasure  that  I  note  that  many  of 
the  home  credit  cards  bear  the  items,  "Cheer- 
fulness," "Kindness,"  "Politeness,"  "Keep- 
ing temper,"  "Doing  before  told,"  "Care  of 
language,"  "Courtesy  to  parents,"  and  the 
like.  And  it  is  with  very  great  pleasure  that  I 
receive  letters  from  parents  and  teachers  say- 
ing that  the  attitude  of  the  children  in  these 
things  is  becoming  a  habit. 

Neatness  and  personal  care  are  habits  that 
mean  much  to  any  one.  Some  grown  people 
cannot  help  being  neat.  Others  apparently 
cannot  be  neat  no  matter  how  much  they  try. 
Something  is  always  wrong.  It  is  a  habit 
formed  when  young,  perhaps  before  the  age 
of  twenty.  In  Mr.  O'Reilly's  list  he  included 
sleeping  with  window  boards  in,  bathing,  car- 
ing for  the  nails,  brushing  the  hair,  cleaning 
the  teeth,  and  going  to  bed  by  nine  o'clock. 


42    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Personal  care  has  been  given  a  place  on  the 
Portland  home  credit  record l  which  is  now 
used  in  some  of  the  schools.  Algona,  a  home 
credit  school  about  twenty  miles  from  Seattle, 
uses  the  Portland  personal  care  section,  includ- 
ing bathing,  brushing  teeth,  sleeping  with 
open  windows,  going  to  bed  before  nine 
o'clock,  and  attending  church  or  Sunday 
school.  In  looking  over  the  first  home  credit 
slips  that  came  in,  the  Algona  principal  found 
that  Nettie,  a  girl  of  thirteen,  had  earned  just 
7  per  cent  out  of  the  100  per  cent  given  for 
a  perfect  record  in  the  personal  division.  She 
had  earned  more  than  the  required  two  hun- 
dred and  ten  minutes  for  the  week  in  the 
regular  work  department  at  a  hard  round  of 
preparing  meals,  washing  dishes,  sweeping, 
feeding  the  poultry,  scrubbing,  and  so  forth. 
But  Nettie  had  slept  with  her  window  closed, 
had  not  brushed  her  teeth,  had  not  taken  a 
bath,  nor  had  she  been  in  bed  at  the  required 
hour.  Nettie  was  obviously  unhappy  over 
the  grade  her  card  received  in  comparison 
with  the  grades  of  her  schoolmates.  Before 
the  next  report  day  she  had  in  some  way 

1  For  the  Portland  Home  Credit  Record  card,  see  p.  120  jf. 


HABIT-BUILDING  43 

secured  a  toothbrush,  that  effective  means  of 
promoting  civilization,  and  had  made  suffi- 
cient improvement  in  her  personal  care  to 
secure  65  per  cent.  Her  grade  for  the  third 
week  was  72  per  cent,  and  for  the  fourth,  93 
per  cent.  Her  fourth  week's  report  showed  a 
hot  bath,  toothbrushing  twice  a  day,  window 
open  every  night,  and  that  she  was  in  bed 
before  nine  every  night  but  two.  What  her 
reform  will  mean  to  the  entire  family  it  is 
interesting  to  conjecture. 

"Be  careful  about  that  voice,  Ella," 
directed  a  teacher.  Ella  arose  at  her  place, 
a  thin,  stooping  girl  of  about  thirteen.  She 
read  her  passage  of  the  lesson  in  a  voice 
scarcely  audible  to  the  visitor  across  the 
room.  A  few  minutes  later  the  visitor  was 
looking  over  some  home  credit  report  slips. 
"Here  is  a  girl  who  did  not  sleep  with  her 
windows  open,"  she  said.  The  teacher  took 
the  blank,  studied  it  a  minute,  then  replied, 
"This  is  the  first  time  that  child  has  brought 
in  a  home  credit  slip.  Do  you  recall  my  re- 
minding a  little  girl  about  her  voice?  That  is 
the  girl,  and  this  card  may  explain  her  voice 
quality." 


44    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

All  the  pupils  except  two  in  a  little  Wash- 
ington town  learned  to  sleep  with  their  win- 
dows open.  Upon  inquiry  it  was  found  that 
one  girl  could  not  open  her  window,  as  it 
was  made  for  admitting  light  only,  being 
built  solidly  into  the  wall.  In  the  case  of  the 
other  child,  the  parents  absolutely  refused  to 
endanger  their  daughter's  health  by  letting 
her  breathe  night  ah*,  no  matter  how  many 
faddists  insisted  that  it  was  necessary! 

Some  members  of  a  church  were  discussing 
the  problem  of  the  spirit  of  incipient  immoral- 
ity that  they  felt  was  prevalent  among  chil- 
dren in  the  neighborhood.  A  home  credit 
teacher  showed  the  speakers  a  number  of  the 
first  report  cards  she  had  received,  which  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  very  few  of  the  pupils 
under  her  care  were  ever  in  bed  before  nine 
o'clock.  A  few  months  later  she  took  occasion 
to  display  again  her  pupils'  home  credit  cards 
and  with  pride  pointed  out  that  almost  every 
child  was  going  to  bed  early,  before  nine 
o'clock.  "It  had  grown  to  be  a  habit  with  the 
children  to  be  up  late,"  she  said.  "The  im- 
morality talked  of  was  not  yet  in  actual  exist- 
ence among  the  children,  but  through  their 


HABIT-BUILDING  45 

outside  evening  associates  was  gradually 
working  itself  in.  The  children  had  only  to 
be  reminded  in  a  substantial  way  that  it  was 
not  only  desirable  for  them  physically  to  re- 
tire early,  but  that  they  were  to  receive  recog- 
nition in  their  school  standing  for  so  doing, 
and  they  at  once  happily  complied." 


VII 


We  are  just  beginning  to  discover  that  the  rural  school  has  a 
fine  laboratory  for  practical  educational  purposes,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood environment  of  the  school.  With  the  development  of 
scientific  agriculture  and  domestic  arts  in  many  of  our  modern 
country  homes  this  laboratory  is  constantly  improving. 

Kansas  State  Agricultural  College  Bulletin,  1914. 

THERE  is  a  general  idea  among  teachers  that 
parents  will  not  cooperate  with  them.  This,  I 
believe,  is  founded  upon  the  assumption  that 
because  they  cannot,  as  a  usual  thing,  coop- 
erate in  textbook  work  they  will  not  cooper- 
ate hi  other  things.  But  both  parents  and 
teachers  want  the  same  results  accomplished. 
If  these  are  to  be  attained  it  means  partner- 
ship work,  the  parent  and  that  other  parent, 
the  teacher,  working  together;  or  one  might 
say,  the  teacher,  and  that  other  teacher,  the 
parent,  working  together. 

I  have  been  surprised  to  find  to  what 
extent  parents  will  cooperate  with  teachers  if 
given  a  chance.  Mrs.  Brown  goes  to  the  school- 
house  on  a  bleak  afternoon.  She  is  greeted 


THAT  OTHER  TEACHER  47 

warmly  by  the  teacher,  Miss  Smith,  and  given 
an  arithmetic  text  to  follow  while  the  class  re- 
cites. The  lesson  is  on  decimal  fractions.  Now, 
Mrs.  Brown  didn't  have  decimal  fractions  dur- 
ing her  school  days,  so  the  recitation  is  quite 
meaningless  to  her.  She  is  glad  when  the  class 
is  over,  and  does  not  find  time  to  visit  school 
again  that  term.  But  if  she  is  asked  to  prepare 
a  luncheon  for  the  picnic  at  the  close  of  the 
year,  or  asked  to  assist  in  any  social  function 
at  the  schoolhouse,  she  spends  her  time  for 
the  school,  and  is  glad  to  do  it. 

In  Eugene,  Oregon,  several  years  ago  I 
found  that  the  women  of  the  city  were  en- 
thusiastic in  aiding  the  schools.  Thirty-two 
women  gave  up  Monday  afternoon  to  teach- 
ing the  girls  sewing,  while  the  boys  had  mil- 
itary drill.  At  a  social  center  meeting  at 
Hover,  Washington,  the  suggestion  was  made 
that  it  would  be  well  if  one  of  the  mothers 
would  come  to  the  school  building  occasion- 
ally to  help  the  girls  with  their  sewing,  as  the 
eighth-grade  pupils  would  have  to  take  an 
examination  in  the  subject  in  May.  So  many 
mothers  volunteered  to  undertake  the  task 
that  a  schedule  was  made  out  whereby  a 


48    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

sewing  period  could  be  had  every  afternoon, 
and  no  mother  be  on  duty  of tener  than  every 
two  weeks. 

At  Myrtle  Creek,  Oregon,  "domestic  art 
work  is  carried  on  in  this  way:  the  teacher 
gives  instructions  in  the  work  that  is  to  be 
done;  in  cooking,  for  instance,  recipes  are 
given,  talked  over,  and  written  down.  The 
girls  then  go  home,  and  actually  do  the  work, 
and  make  a  report  to  the  teacher.  They  must 
have  the  signatures  of  their  mothers  for  all 
the  work  they  do.  This  is  managed  with  a 
home  credit  report  card. 

Mrs.  E.  H.  Belknap,  a  progressive  rural 
teacher  .near  Jefferson,  Oregon,  said  in  a 
recent  letter:  "We  learn  how  a  cow  can  be 
fed  and  cared  for,  so  as  to  produce  the  great- 
est amount  of  butter  fat.  That  is  well,  but 
we  regard  it  of  far  more  value  for  the  boy  to 
go  home,  apply  the  knowledge  learned,  and 
produce  the  butter  fat.  He  is  now  worth 
something  to  the  world,  and  able  to  turn  his 
education  into  dollars  and  cents  at  any  time. 
The  girl  takes  the  book,  and  reads  how  to 
make  butter.  She  goes  home,  tends  the  milk, 
churns,  and  makes  the  butter,  learns  how 


THAT  OTHER  TEACHER  49 

really  to  do  the  work.  She  has  called  the 
attention  of  the  entire  family  to  the  amount 
and  quality  of  her  butter  obtained  from 
proper  feeding  and  handling  of  the  cow  by 
the  boy." 

And  yet  it  is  said  that  nothing  can  be  done 
in  the  small  school  in  domestic  science  be- 
cause there  is  no  equipment.  In  every  home 
there  is  ideal  equipment  if  we  mean  the  equip- 
ment the  children  are  to  use.  If  we  are  pre- 
paring for  life,  why  not  use  the  equipment  we 
must  use  hi  life?  Best  of  all,  in  using  the  home 
laboratory  there  is  an  immediate  purpose. 
None  of  us  can  get  much  out  of  an  exercise 
when  it  is  done  just  for  an  exercise.  There  is 
the  dinner  to  be  cooked,  the  bed  to  be  made, 
the  ironing  to  be  done;  somebody  must  do 
it.  And  the  dinner,  the  bed,  and  the  ironing 
are  to  be  put  to  the  test  by  some  one  who 
sees  real  values.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
one  of  the  things  schools  most  lack  is  pur- 
pose. 

It  might  be  said  that  to  stimulate  a  child, 
to  want  to  do  things  is  only  half  the  problem. 
"If  children  do  things  without  expert  instruc- 
tion they  may  do  them  wrong,  and  thus  get  a 


50    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

faulty  habit."  But  I  think  more  than  half  of 
the  problem  is  solved  when  we  create  the 
desire  to  do  a  thing.  The  greatest  fault  of 
present-day  education  is  that  we  constantly 
try  to  teach  a  child  how  to  do  a  thing  without 
his  desiring  to  do  it,  or  even  knowing  the 
reason  for  doing  it.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
once  knew  a  country  girl  who  had  never  seen 
a  domestic  science  equipment,  and  who  lived 
hi  a  community  where  there  was  no  one  house- 
keeper especially  noted;  yet  with  her  strong 
desire  to  be  a  fine  housekeeper  she  learned 
something  good  from  each  neighbor,  and  for 
excellent  results,  and  for  economy  of  time 
and  material,  her  daily  practice  would  put  the 
average  domestic  science  teacher  to  disadvan- 
tage. However  I  am  not  arguing  that  domes- 
tic science  should  not  be  taught  at  school;  I 
certainly  believe  it  should.  But  I  do  claim 
that  it  is  worth  while,  and  is  absolutely  ne- 
cessary, first  to  create  the  desire  to  do  the 
things  that  are  to  be  taught.  To  do  things 
without  a  purpose  is  like  trying  to  eat  without 
an  appetite. 

A  pamphlet  published  by  the  Kansas  State 
Agricultural  College  on  "School  Credit  for 


THAT   OTHER   TEACHER  51 

Home  Work:  The  Laboratory  of  the  Rural 
School,"  makes  these  practical  points:  — 

Could  there  possibly  be  a  more  favorable  con- 
dition for  teaching  Domestic  Arts  than  in  the  rural 
school  from  which  the  girl  goes  every  evening  to 
a  busy  home  where  she  is  needed  to  take  part  in 
the  actual  work  of  housekeeping?  It  is  here  that 
the  girl  has  a  chance  to  put  into  actual  practice 
the  things  she  has  learned  at  school.  Here  tfce 
home  has  the  chance  to  realize  immediately  upon 
the  investment  it  is  making  hi  the  education  of  the 
girl.  If  sanitation,  ventilation,  sweeping  and  dust- 
ing, care  of  the  sick,  preparation  of  foods,  care 
of  milk,  water  supply  and  uses,  bathing,  care  of 
health,  sewing,  proper  clothing,  etc.,  are  taught  in 
our  schools,  and  if  the  laboratories  are  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood,  and  the  girls  and  boys 
must  go  into  them  to  stay  overnight,  they  should 
be  used.  Likewise,  the  vegetable  gardens  at  the 
homes  should  be  made  the  experimental  plots  for 
the  school,  after  the  best  seeds  have  been  selected, 
best  methods  of  preparing,  fertilizing,  and  planting 
the  soil,  best-known  methods  of  cultivation  and 
maturing  the  crops,  have  been  taught.  The  actual 
experimental  work  should  be  carried  out  in  the 
home  gardens  by  the  boys  and  girls.  Proper 
records  can  be  kept,  and  the  boys  and  girls  will  be 
anxious  to  get  back  into  school,  after  the  out-of- 
doors  summer  experiments,  to  compare  reports, 
and  renew  another  phase  of  their  educational 
work. 

In  agriculture  the  fields,  stock,  buildings,  etc., 
about  the  schoolhouse  should  be  studied  and  used. 


52    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

These  are  the  real  agricultural  laboratory.  The 
real  problems  of  actual  farming  are  present,  and 
the  methods  of  work  and  the  ways  of  handling  the 
fields  and  the  stock  are  the  available  resources  of 
the  school  as  a  part  of  its  actual  laboratory.  In 
this  connection  study  the  dairy  cows,  the  feeding 
of  cattle,  hogs,  and  horses,  types  and  breeds  of 
farm  horses,  cattle,  hogs,  and  sheep.  In  every 
community  there  are  many  opportunities  for 
type  studies  —  such  as  fields  of  alf  alf a  or  wheat 
or  corn;  a  dairy  herd;  valuable  and  well-bred 
horses;  beef  cattle;  hogs  or  sheep;  a  silo,  or  types 
of  farm  machinery,  and  farm  buildings. 

It  is  natural  for  a  child  to  want  to  assume 
home  responsibilities,  but  there  are  many 
things  that  interfere  unless  a  special  effort  is 
made.  The  school  itself  has  been  a  great 
offender  in  weaning  children  from  their  homes 
and  from  natural  living.  This,  of  course,  is 
not  strange  when  we  consider  that  the  school 
started  out  to  make  lawyers  and  ministers, 
and  not  home-makers.  Yet  one  of  the  great 
needs  of  the  time  is  to  make  people  home- 
loving,  and  to  have  those  wholesome  habits 
that  come  from  sharing  home  responsibilities. 
Anything  is  worth  while  that  will  make  the 
child  once  taste  the  joy  of  doing  a  useful  thing 
well. 


vm 

STELLA  AND  SADIE 
Through  ignorance  ye  did  it.  —  Acts  in,  17. 

"  LET  the  school  go  on  just  as  it  has.  What 
business  is  it  of  the  school  to  meddle  with  the 
home  work?  Of  course  most  children  do  certain 
chores  at  home,  but  why  confuse  the  work  of 
the  home  with  the  work  of  the  school?  " 

Have  you  heard  this  speech?  I  have  heard 
it  several  times.  Does  justice  demand  that  we 
know  what  pupils  do  outside  of  school?  Must 
the  teacher  know  home  conditions  in  order 
to  teach  efficiently?  I  have  in  mind  a  true 
story  that  answers  these  questions  and  shows 
the  injustice  of  teaching  children  when  one 
knows  little  or  nothing  of  their  home  life.  I 
am  sure  most  teachers  have  had  similar  ex- 
periences. 

In  a  certain  schoolroom  in  a  certain  town  I 
noticed  one  day  two  girls  in  the  same  class 
sitting  near  each  other.  The  contrast  between 
them  was  so  great  that  I  became  interested  in 
them,  and  found  out  something  of  their  his- 


54    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

tory  and  circumstances.  Stella,  the  younger 
one,  eleven  years  old,  was  a  perfect  picture 
of  rosy  health.  Her  brown  hair  was  beauti- 
ful and  most  becomingly  arranged.  Many 
women  would  have  been  delighted  to  wear 
such  furs  as  she  put  on  at  the  noon  recess. 
Well  dressed  and  well  nourished,  she  had  the 
look  of  one  much  loved  at  school  and  at  home, 
one  to  whom  life  was  all  happiness. 

Stella  is  the  only  child  of  wealthy  and 
doting  parents.  If  we  should  follow  her  home 
we  should  find  a  well-kept  modern  house,  and 
we  should  see  that  the  mother  who  greets  her 
at  the  door  is  just  such  a  mother  as  we  should 
expect  for  such  a  girl.  While  the  evening  meal 
is  being  prepared,  her  mother  sits  beside  her 
at  the  piano,  and  helps  with  her  practice,  and 
when  the  father  comes  in,  the  three  sing 
together  until  dinner  is  announced.  After 
dinner  her  mother  helps  her  with  her  Least 
Common  Multiple  and  Greatest  Common 
Divisor.  They  all  discuss  her  composition 
and  then  her  mother  asks  her  to  read  aloud, 
and  reads  to  her.  Promptly  at  nine  o'clock 
she  goes  to  bed  in  just  the  kind  of  room  a 
little  girl  loves.  The  windows  are  opened  to 


STELLA  AND  SADIE  55 

the  proper  width,  the  heat  is  turned  off,  she 
is  kissed  good-night,  and  is  told,  "Mother 
loves  you,  and  Father  will  come  in  and  kiss 
you  when  he  comes  home." 

In  the  morning  at  seven  o'clock  she  is  called 
by  a  very  gentle  voice,  and  told  it  is  time  for 
Mother's  angel  to  leave  her  dreams.  Her 
mother  helps  her  dress,  and  brushes  and 
braids  her  hair.  "  What  will  Father's  sweet- 
heart have  for  breakfast  this  morning?"  She 
will  have  grape-fruit  and  a  poached  egg  on 
toast.  After  some  fitting  by  the  seamstress 
for  a  new  dress  to  be  added  to  her  already  full 
wardrobe,  she  is  thoroughly  inspected  and  is 
ready  for  school.  She  is  given  some  flowers 
for  the  teacher,  and  is  accompanied  part  way 
by  her  mother.  She  is  early  at  school,  her 
teacher  kisses  her,  pats  her  cheeks,  and 
Stella  is  ready  for  the  lessons,  the  lessons  her 
mother  helped  her  with  the  evening  before. 
There  she  is,  happy,  radiant! 

Now  let  us  go  home  with  the  other  girl. 
Sadie  is  thirteen,  but  she  looks  much  older 
notwithstanding  her  frail  little  figure.  Did  I 
say  home?  Be  the  judge.  A  few  years  ago  her 
father  and  her  aunt  ran  away  together,  leav- 


56    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WO±tK 

ing  the  mother  with  Sadie  and  two  younger 
children.  The  broken-spirited  mother  died 
after  the  desertion,  and  the  father  and  aunt 
returned,  were  married,  and  took  possession 
of  the  house  and  the  three  children.  They 
now  have  a  baby  a  year  old.  The  family  live 
in  a  tumbledown  house  at  the  edge  of  the  city. 
On  entering  the  house  Sadie  receives  no  greet- 
ing from  her  stepmother-aunt,  who  is  sit- 
ting by  a  dirty  window  reading.  The  child 
knows  what  work  there  is  to  do,  and  goes  at 
it  sullenly.  After  the  meal,  at  which  she 
scarcely  has  time  to  sit  down,  she  has  to  do 
up  the  work,  and  then  is  sent  on  an  errand. 
When  she  returns  it  is  nine  o'clock  and  she  is 
hardly  able  to  keep  her  eyes  open.  The  Least 
Common  Multiple  and  the  Greatest  Common 
Divisor  are  like  Greek  to  her.  After  she  has 
tried  to  study  a  few  minutes,  her  stepmother 
disturbs  her  by  throwing  her  brother's  stock- 
ings into  her  lap  to  be  mended.  When  this 
task  is  completed,  and  the  potatoes  are  peeled 
for  breakfast,  she  goes  upstairs.  She  tenderly 
draws  the  covers  about  her  sleeping  brother 
and  creeps  into  bed  beside  her  little  sister. 
Though  she  is  very  weary,  her  starved  soul  is 


STELLA  AND  SADIE  57 

comforted  as  she  cuddles  and  kisses  her  sister 
before  she  drops  to  sleep. 

In  the  night  she  awakens,  and  thinking 
Harry  is  again  uncoVered  she  slips  over  to  his 
bed,  like  a  little  mother,  and  again  adjusts 
the  bedclothes.  The  baby  awakens  at  five 
o'clock,  and  Sadie  is  called  and  told  to  make 
a  fire  and  warm  the  milk.  She  then  gets 
breakfast,  does  the  kitchen  work,  spreads  up 
the  beds,  sews  a  button  on  her  brother's  coat, 
braids  her  sister's  hair,  and  is  late  at  school. 

She  came  in  a  few  minutes  late  the  morning 
I  visited  her  room.  The  class  was  trying  to 
make  a  record  for  punctuality,  and  had  tied 
another  room  for  first  place  until  this  morning 
when  Sadie's  lateness  set  them  behind.  The 
teacher  was  provoked  and  reproved  Sadie. 
The  pupils  showed  their  scorn  in  many  ways 
and  said  she  was  the  cause  of  all  but  three  of 
the  tardy  marks  of  the  term.  The  teacher 
knew  that  the  principal  would  ask  her  why 
she  did  not  improve  her  tardy  record.  The 
pupils  knew  that  their  chances  for  a  half- 
holiday  were  spoiled  as  long  as  "that  Sadie 
Johnson"  was  in  the  room. 

This  morning  especially  the  teacher  wished 


58    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

to  make  a  good  showing  because  she  wanted 
a  place  in  a  larger  city  and  hoped  that  I  would 
recommend  her.  Arithmetic  was  the  first 
thing  on  the  program.  The  principal  had 
boasted  of  the  work  of  his  school  in  arith- 
metic. The  work  went  beautifully,  for  Stella 
led  off  with  a  perfect  recitation.  The  pride  of 
the  whole  class  was  evident,  the  teacher  was 
hopeful.  But  wanting  to  see  the  work  of  all 
the  pupils,  I  asked  several  questions,  and  at 
last  called  upon  Sadie.  She  did  n't  know,  she 
stood  abashed,  and  showed  absolute  lack  of 
understanding  of  the  subject.  The  principal 
was  provoked.  The  teacher  was  plainly  hu- 
miliated, and  said  in  a  tone  that  was  low, 
but  loud  enough  for  Sadie  and  several  of  the 
children  to  hear,  "  The  girl  is  not  only  lazy, 
but  feeble-minded." 

So  it  was  the  whole  term.  Sadie  was  tor- 
tured each  school  day,  condemned  by  the 
most  powerful  court  in  the  world,  her  com- 
panions, led  by  her  teacher.  And  the  reason 
was  that  the  teacher  was  teaching  only  the 
six-hour-a-day  girl.  One  does  not  have  to  go 
to  Turkey  to  see  examples  of  injustice  and 
cruelty.  But  let  us  not  be  too  critical  of  the 


STELLA  AND  SADIE  59 

teacher.  She  is  tender-hearted  and  sympa- 
thetic. She  weeps  over  the  heroines  in  books, 
and  has  latent  longings  to  be  of  service  in  the 
world.  In  this  case  she  did  not  know  the  con- 
ditions that  made  Sadie  stupid.  If  she  had 
been  interested  in  the  children's  out-of-school 
work,  and  had  had  them  tell  her  about  it,  she 
would  have  known  that  the  frail  little  un- 
kempt girl  was  compelled  to  do  a  woman's 
work  at  home  besides  trying  to  get  her  lessons. 
Then  she  would  have  seen  the  tragedy  in  the 
child's  appealing  glance  and  have  understood 
her.  Some  people  go  through  life  without 
finding  an  opportunity  to  do  justice,  such  as 
was  this  teacher's.  In  ministering  to  the  soul- 
hunger  of  this  little  girl  she  might  have  given 
the  service  that  she  had  dreamed  of  giving. 
It  would  have  been  the  kind  of  service  that  is 
its  own  reward. 


IX 

A  STORY  AND   LETTERS   FROM  TEACHERS 
A  STORY  FROM  NEBRASKA,  BY  MRS.  SARAH  J. 

HOAGLAND 

ONE  spring  found  me  in  Nebraska  teaching 
a  school  of  German  and  Bohemian  children, 
only  two  of  whom  spoke  English.  I  boarded 
with  a  German  family  who  lived  about  a  mile 
from  the  school.  In  our  walks  to  and  from 
school  I  taught  the  children  English.  They 
and  their  father  were  born  in  Nebraska,  but 
at  first  none  of  them  could  speak  English  so 
that  I  could  understand  it,  although  I  under- 
stood some  of  their  German. 

The  oldest  boy  —  ten  years  old  —  lanky, 
with  awkward  gait,  and  fair,  straight-stand- 
ing hair,  had  a  dogged,  sullen  look.  It  was  a 
"  home"  look,  especially  when  the  father  was 
around,  but  it  left  when  he  was  trying  to  tell 
about  birds  or  other  interesting  things.  His 
telling  me  that  he  intended  to  work  in  town  as 
soon  as  possible  gave  me  a  peep  into  his  heart 
as  regarded  home.  It  was  not  a  happy  home. 


LETTERS  FROM  TEACHERS  61 

The  father  often  drank,  and  at  such  times  he 
was  harsh  and  cruel.  The  mother  was  meek 
and  subdued.  She  never  had  known  how  to  do 
good  housekeeping.  She  told  me  that  when  a 
girl  in  Germany,  being  large  and  strong,  she 
had  had  to  work  in  the  fields  instead  of  learn- 
ing housework. 

The  farm  was  run  down;  the  house  was 
bare  and  unhomelike.  The  father's  voice  was 
often  raised  in  upbraiding  in  "  Low  Dutch." 
He  often  had  the  children  rounded  up  for 
punishment  for  starting  fires  or  other  mischief. 
The  seven-year-old  boy  was  more  efficient, 
either  in  the  home  or  out,  than  the  ten-year- 
old  boy.  I  noticed  that  he  had  a  better  head 
and  intelligence.  His  efficiency  was  due  to 
this,  not  to  any  better  training. 

The  mother  often  cried  over  the  brutality 
of  the  father  to  the  oldest  boy.  I  determined 
to  study  the  situation,  and  I  found  a  remedy. 
I  learned  that  the  father  could  do  practi- 
cally nothing  in  arithmetic.  He  had  attended 
school  for  his  confirmation  —  a  little  reading 
in  German  being  the  only  apparent  result. 
So  I  taught  the  boy  arithmetic,  and  after  I 
had  worked  with  him  two  hours  every  night 


62    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

for  several  months,  he  could  do  addition  bet- 
ter than  his  father.  It  was  wonderful  to  see 
the  pride  and  dawning  respect  on  the  father's 
face  as  the  boy  figured  correctly  the  weight  of 
many  wagon-loads  of  grain  lately  taken  to  the 
elevator.  I  knew  then  that  the  unreason- 
able whipping  would  tend  to  stop.  I  seldom 
see  a  father  unreasonable  with  a  boy  he  can 
be  proud  of  at  school.  So  the  sky  was  clear 
for  a  time. 

But  when  the  press  of  spring  work  came  on 
and  the  father  found  he  could  not  afford  to 
employ  help,  he  grew  moody  and  was  even 
savage  again.  He  drank,  and  at  times  I  was 
afraid  of  him  myself.  But  I  liked  the  mother. 
I  knew  she  needed  the  board  money  for  the 
children,  and  I  wanted  to  see  the  case  of  the 
boy  to  a  finish.  So  I  stayed  on.  The  lovely 
outdoor  surroundings,  too,  made  me  want  to 
stay.  The  orchard  was  beautiful  —  the  finest 
in  the  neighborhood.  The  birds  sang  in  a 
large  maple  at  my  window.  This  was  a  treat 
to  a  flat-dweller.  Since  then  I  have  ever  loved 
the  country. 

I  often  asked  the  mother  what  the  father 
was  saying  to  the  oldest  boy.  I  knew  as  far 


LETTERS  FROM  TEACHERS  63 

as  the  boy  was  concerned  I  could  help  the 
matter  by  influencing  him.  She  said  that  the 
father  was  complaining  that  the  boy  was 
worthless  as  a  worker.  For  one  thing,  he  had 
milked  and  left  the  milk  in  the  barnyard  in 
order  to  play.  The  complaints  kept  pouring 
in  on  the  patient  mother.  The  father  was 
working  early  and  late  to  get  abreast  of  the 
season's  work.  He  forgot  what  sleep  was,  and 
grew  thin  and  haggard  and  more  and  more 
savage. 

I  felt  that  only  some  distinct  advance  would 
have  effect  on  either  father  or  boy.  I  asked 
if  the  boy  could  drive  a  horse.  He  could  n't. 
He  could  not  work  a  single  piece  of  the  ma- 
chinery on  the  farm.  That  is  most  unusual 
in  Nebraska,  for  the  light  soil  can  be  worked 
by  machinery  which  a  boy  can  learn  to  run  if 
he  can  also  guide  horses.  The  father  would 
not  teach  the  boy  —  had  no  patience  with 
him.  So  the  mother  and  I  made  our  plans. 
She  approached  the  father  with  the  question 
of  getting  a  team  and  machine  for  the  boy. 
It  happened  to  be  a  cornstalk  cutter  that 
was  needed.  The  father  consented,  provided 
the  mother  would  teach  the  boy!  She  had 


64     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

done  such  work,  though  she  was  not  strong 
enough  to  do  it  this  year. 

But  I  saw  her  that  Saturday  toiling  in  the 
hot  sun,  walking  up  and  down  the  rows, 
touching  up  the  horses.  The  boy  proved  most 
apt.  I  soon  saw  him  going  up  and  down  alone, 
still  under  his  mother's  eye,  however.  The 
boy  seemed  to  grow  two  years  in  importance, 
self-reliance,  and  ambition  in  that  day's 
work!  This  training  was  kept  up  out  of  school 
hours  for  some  time,  and  the  boy  learned  to 
work  other  machinery,  the  last  thing  a  corn- 
planter. 

As  soon  as  the  father  realized  what  the 
boy  was  doing,  he  was  a  transformed  man. 
The  knowledge  that  he  had  a  helper  seemed 
to  clear  the  atmosphere.  Before  this  the  boy 
had  always  kept  out  of  the  father's  way.  Now 
he  forsook  the  mother!  It  was  "Papa  and 
me"  from  that  time  in  his  talk.  This  new 
attitude  made  it  all  the  easier  for  the  wife, 
for  it  was  a  relief  from  what  had  been  her 
greatest  trouble  —  having  to  stand  between 
the  two. 

The  father's  pride  and  confidence  in  his  son 
kept  on  growing.  In  many  ways  he  was  just  a 


LETTERS  FROM  TEACHERS  65 

good-natured  big  giant,  but  he  turned  like  a 
bear  on  anything  that  annoyed  him. 

I  remember  the  first  day  the  boy  stayed 
out  of  school  to  work,  how  it  seemed  to  me  a 
deciding  day  in  his  life.  I  rarely  like  to  see 
a  child  stay  out  of  school,  but  that  day  I 
thought  the  industrial  training  much  more 
important  than  anything  I  could  teach  the 
boy  in  those  hours  of  school.  He  came  regu- 
larly after  the  rush  of  work  was  over. 

A  SCHOOL  IN  MONTANA: 
MRS.  HOAGLAND'S  FIRST  LETTER  TO  THE  AUTHOR 

Last  September  I  heard  your  lecture  on  credit 
being  given  in  school  for  home  work.  I  have  tried 
it  lately  after  working  the  children  up  to  grade. 
I  started  by  getting  acquainted  with  the  homes, 
finding  out  what  the  children  did  and  what  they 
could  do  further.  I  made  inquiries  as  to  whether 
the  children,  in  their  play,  left  things  around  for 
the  mother  to  pick  up  and  so  on.  The  spirit  the 
work  is  done  in  counts,  too,  in  credit  given.  The 
work  must  be  done  pleasantly  and  cheerfully;  the 
mother  must  be  asked  for  work;  she  is  not  to  be 
hunting  the  child  up  to  get  him  to  do  the  work. 

One  little  girl  of  eleven  made  bread  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  never  having  tried  it  entirely  before. 
She  has  an  overworked  mother.  In  another  home 
I  found  the  two  older  children  took  charge  of  a 
teething  baby  while  the  mother,  an  ex-teacher  and 


66    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

rather  delicate,  did  the  housework.  The  little 
girl,  six  years  old,  could  do  dishes  and  otherwise 
help  the  mother.  In  another  home  the  boy  has 
grown  to  be  the  pride  of  his  father's  heart  by 
forcing  the  father  back  into  the  chair,  when  he 
was  weary,  and  doing  the  chores  himself. 

One  boy,  his  father  told  me  two  weeks  ago,  was 
growing  as  dependable  as  his  brother  five  years 
older,  and  helped  bring  the  cows,  herd  cattle  from 
one  field  to  another  before  and  after  school  and 
on  non-school  days.  There  was  much  other  work, 
light  in  itself,  but  wonderfully  helpful  to  his 
father,  that  was  taken  charge  of  cheerfully. 

One  child's  father  had  a  hired  man.  The  boy 
did  but  little.  He  is  eight  years  old  and  large. 
While  visiting  there,  I  saw  his  father  bringing  in 
coal.  I  told  the  boy  he  would  find  it  necessary 
to  look  up  work  if  he  cared  for  credit.  His  mother 
visited  school  shortly  after  this;  I  was  telling  her 
of  the  idea  and  she  said  she  now  understood  why 
Bennie  had  started  to  clear  the  table  several  times, 
and  so  on.  We  had  a  very  happy  laugh  over  it. 
The  boy  hunts  the  eggs,  gets  in  the  wood  and  coal, 
makes  the  mash  for  the  chickens,  and  helps  wash 
the  dishes. 

Another  child,  aged  thirteen,  has  to  do  much 
outside  work,  so  she  feels  good  over  getting  credit 
for  it.  It  is  a  kind  of  pay  that  makes  her  days 
pleasanter.  I  believe  each  child  richly  deserves 
the  credit  I  have  given.  The  results  have  been 
to  make  the  tie  between  the  parents  and  myself 
stronger,  and  I  am  asked  to  come  back  next  year. 
I  have  seen  a  gladder,  prouder  light  in  the  parents' 
eyes  concerning  their  children.  It  has  helped  to 


LETTERS  FROM  TEACHERS  67 

make  our  school  in  some  respects  without  a 
superior  in  the  county,  according  to  the  county 
superintendent's  own  word.  A  member  of  the 
board  says  the  children  never  have  made  such 
progress  since  the  school  was  built,  and  all  say 
these  children  never  have  made  as  much  progress 
before.  They  are  learning,  as  far  as  I  can  teach 
them,  the  honor  of  labor  and  the  beauty  of  being 
useful,  willing,  and  dependable.  I  have  had  a 
hard  battle  to  wage  here  for  good,  thorough  work 
and  application,  but  the  right  has  won. 

I  enclose  a  report  that  shows  the  kinds  of  work 
the  children  are  in  the  habit  of  doing. 

I  am  the  teacher  who  spoke  to  you  about  the 
new  oats  being  brought  into  the  dryland  country. 
It  is  now  being  introduced  into  another  part  of 
Montana  where  my  homestead  is.  You  will  per- 
haps remember  me.  Very  sincerely, 

MBS.   S.   J.    HOAGLAND. 

BENNIE   McGOY  ADDISON   SHIRLEY 

Aged  8  Aged  9 

Dries  dishes  Takes  out  ashes 

Makes  fire  Gets  eggs 

Fulled  up  sunflower  stalks  Gets  coal  and  kindling 

Milks  (some)  Feeds  horses  oats  (15  head) 

Gets  in  coal  and  kindling  Cleans  out  barn 

Gathers  eggs  Milks  cows  sometimes 

Brings  in  wood  Drives  cattle 

Carries  ashes  out  Harnesses  up 

Smashes  big  coal  for  stove  Hunts  eggs 

Turns  churn  Waters  horses 

Feeds  cats  Dries  dishes 

Gets  chicken  feed  Cooks  (eggs,  pancakes,  coffee) 

Feeds  sitting  hen  Sets  table 

Helps  catch  calves  Fries  apples  and  bakes  them 
Gets  clean  hay  for  chicken  nests       Peels  potatoes 

Clears  table  Fries  potatoes 

Turns  windmill  *  Feeds  chickens 

Slops  hogs  Carries  slop  to  hogs 

Kills  flies  Drives  to  town 
Fixed  his  hand  cart 

•  Probably  means  turns  the  power  on  or  off. 


68    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 


JOHNNIE   MAHONEY 
Aged  6 


LOVILO   MURRAY 
Aged  6 


Feeds  pig  Opens  gate  for  calves 

Hunts  eggs  Gets  kindling 

Waters  horse  Gets  coal 
Told  where  sow  and  her  new  piga    Takes  care  of  baby 

were  when  no  one   else  could    Closes  chicken-house  door 

find  them  Carries  wood 

Minds  baby  Dries  dishes 

Hunts  firewood  Leads  horses  to  plow 


MAY   MAHONEY 
Aged  11 

Bakes  bread 

Washes  dishea 

Minds  baby 

Gets  coal  and  water 

Gathers  eggs 

Makes  cake 

Gets  cows 

Waters  horses 

Pumps  water 

Sewed  a  doll  petticoat 

Sewed  sleeves  in  waist  for  little 

brother 
Scrubs 
Irons 

Cooks  meals 
Peels  potatoes 
Takes  out  ashes 
Dusts 
Sweeps 
Makes  beds 
Airs  bedding 
Milks  cows 
Feeds  calf 
Hays  horses 
Builds  fires 
Turns  churn 
Feeds  chickens 
Feeds  sitting  hens 
Sets  and  clears  table 
Washes  range 
Polishes  cutlery 
Does  light  washing 
Prepares  vegetables 


ALEEN   MURRAY 
Aged  7 

Washes  and  dries  dishes 

Sweeps  floor 

Does  simple  ironing 

Gets  wood,  water,  and  coal 

Closes  chicken-house  door 

Dresses  baby 

Tends  baby 

SUSIE   MARCKINO 
Aged  IS 

Cooks  meals 

Washes  dishes 

Scrubs 

Irons 

Sews  —  made  a  waist  and  a  baby 

dress 
Gets  coal 
Feeds  chickens 
Goes  for  horse 
Brings  water 

Gets  hay  and  feeds  horses 
Builds  fires 
Turns  churn 
Polishes  stoves 
Cares  for  young  chickens 
Dusts 
Salts  horses 

ROSIE   MARCKINO 
Aged  6 

Gets  water 

Did  dishes  with  four-year-old  sis- 
ter when  all  else  were  gone 
A  general  little  helper 


LETTERS  FROM  TEACHERS  69 

A  LETTER  FROM  MRS.  E.  H.  BELKNAP,  MARION 
COUNTY,  OREGON 

I  believe  intensely  in  an  education  that  teaches 
the  boy  or  girl  not  only  how  the  book  says  to  do  a 
thing,  but  how,  by  actual  experience  and  practice, 
that  thing  is  best  worked  out  and  brought  to 
perfection.  .  .  . 

In  this  district  we  have  used  home  credits  for 
two  years.  First,  in  order  to  make  this  a  success, 
the  teacher  must  believe  in  it,  and  must  be  a 
worker.  We  have  given  credits  for  everything 
from  plowing  to  washing  the  baby  for  breakfast. 
As  a  result  we  have  the  little  girls  dressing  their 
own  hair  for  school,  the  older  ones  cooking  break- 
fast, washing,  ironing,  etc.  The  boys  plow,  milk, 
clean  stables,  cut  wood,  feed  horses,  do  all  kinds 
of  work  for  credits;  doing  it,  they  have  become  inter- 
ested in  it,  and  before  they  knew  it  a  habit  has  been 
formed  of  doing  things  at  the  right  time  in  the  right 
way.  It  is  truly  wonderful  what  these  children  do. 
Some  of  them  walk  three  or  f<5ur  miles,  and  still 
earn  hundreds  of  credits  in  a  week.  Some  of  my 
girls  milk  as  many  as  eight  cows  twice  a  day,  and 
the  boys  plow  and  harrow  acres  of  ground.  They 
do  the  work  gladly,  too. 

Monday  mornings  we  give  out  blanks  to  be 
filled  out,  signed  by  parents,  and  returned  the 
following  Monday  morning.  We  always  go  over 
the  cards  carefully.  /  call  the  names  aloud,  and  the 
pupils  report  quickly.  If  extra  work  has  been  accom- 
plished I  always  try  to  praise  the  effort.  It  is  a  happy 
hour  when  the  reports  are  rendered. 

At  first  we  agreed  that  when  any  pupil  earned 


70    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

six  hundred  or  more  credits  he  should  be  entitled 
to  a  holiday.  Thousands  of  credits  have  been 
earned,  but  no  one  has  asked  for  the  holiday! 
Frequently,  when  the  pupil  has  been  ill,  or  forced 
to  miss  a  day,  he  has  asked  that  the  credits  be 
applied  to  blot  out  the  absent  marks,  and  this  has 
always  been  granted. 


PART  TWO 

I 

ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS 

UPON  the  demonstration  of  the  success  of 
the  home  credit  plan  in  the  Spring  Valley 
School  I  began  to  hear  of  other  Oregon 
schools  that  had  taken  it  up  and  were  carry- 
ing it  on  successfully.  During  the  school 
year  1913-14,  three  hundred  and  twenty-five 
teachers  in  Oregon  and  in  Washington  were 
giving  school  credit  for  home  work,  while  the 
scheme  had  been  adopted  by  some  schools  in 
other  States. 

For  the  aid  of  those  who  may  contemplate 
its  use,  the  outlines  of  several  plans  that  have 
been  instituted  are  printed  here,  together 
with  excerpts  of  letters  we  have  received,  and 
cards  made  out  by  pupils.  These  reports 
come  from  teachers  who  have  used  the  scheme 
successfully  in  various  forms.  The  daily  re- 
port plans  are  given  first,  and  the  letters  are 


72    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

arranged  according  to  the  frequency  of  the 
report  from  the  home  to  the  school. 

It  will  be  noted  that  some  teachers  use  a 
card  that  is  supposed  to  last  for  a  whole  year, 
being  returned  to  the  teacher  monthly  as 
school  cards  are  often  returned  to  the  parent 
monthly;  others  have  cards  that  are  marked 
daily,  and  last  for  only  a  week.  Some  teach- 
ers use  a  contest  plan  of  awards  like  Mr. 
O'Reilly's;  others  add  credits  to  the  average 
obtained  in  school  subjects;  and  others  do 
both.  The  first  user  of  the  parent-signed 
report,  Mr.  O'Reilly,  used  no  cards,  but  had 
the  children  write  little  notes  with  lists  of 
their  labors  'every  day  for  their  parents  to 
sign.  A  bulletin  from  the  Kansas  Agricul- 
tural College  suggests  that  pupils  should  fur- 
nish the  reports  themselves  over  their  own 
signatures.1  The  only  record  of  failure  we 
have  was  hi  a  school  where  monthly  report 
cards  were  used,  and  no  definite  scheme 
of  duties  was  laid  down,  —  merely  so  many 
minutes  of  unspecified  labor.  I  find  that 
children  are  more  interested  when  then*  per- 
formance of  particular  duties  is  recorded. 

1  See  Appendix. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    73 

I  should  never  advise  the  wholesale  adop- 
tion of  any  one  plan,  but  I  would  suggest  that 
superintendents  and  teachers  adapt  plans  to 
the  needs  of  their  districts.  Several  schools 
have  been  reported  where  an  enthusiastic 
principal  has  put  the  plan  into  operation 
throughout  his  school,  regardless  of  the  ideas 
of  his  teachers.  I  find  that  teachers  never  feel 
inspiration  in  a  work  that  they  do  not  want 
to  undertake.  Therefore,  it  would  be  my  sug- 
gestion that  under  no  circumstances  should  a 
teacher  be  asked  to  use  home  credits  unless 
she  herself  desires  it. 

DAILY   REPORTS 

The  following  is  the  method  which  Mr. 
A.  I.  O'Reilly  originated  at  the  Spring  Valley 
School,  in  1911-12:- 

Rules  of  the  Contest 

1.  No  pupil  is  obliged  to  enter  the  contest. 

2.  Any  pupil  entering  is  free  to  quit  at  any  time, 
but  if  any  one  quits  without  good  cause,  all 
credits  he  or  she  may  have  earned  will  be 
forfeited. 

3.  Parent  or  guardian  must  send  an  itemized 
list  (with  signature  affixed)  to  the  teacher  each 
morning.  This  list  must  contain  a  record  of  the 
work  each  child  has  done  daily. 


74     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

4.  Each   day   the   teacher   will   issue   a   credit 
voucher  to  the  pupil.   This  voucher  will  state 
the  total  number  of  minutes  due  the  pupil 
each  day  for  home  work. 

5.  At  the  close  of  the  contest  pupils  will  return 
vouchers  to  the  teacher,  the  six  pupils  who 
have  earned  the  greatest  amount  of  time,  per 
the  vouchers,  receiving  awards. 

,  6.  Contest  closes  when  term  of  school  closes. 

7.  Once  each  month  the  names  of  the  six  pupils 
who  are  in  the  lead  will  be  published  in  the 
county  papers. 

8.  Ten  per  cent  credit  will  be  added  to  final 
examination  results  of  all  pupils  (except  eighth 
graders)  who  enter  and  continue  in  the  con- 
test. 

9.  When  a  pupil  has  credits  to  the  amount  of  one 
day  earned,  by  surrender  of  the  credits,  and 
by  proper  application  to  the  teacher,  he  or  she 
may  be  granted  a  holiday,  provided  that  not 
more  than  one  holiday  may  be  granted  to  a 
pupil  each  month. 

10.  Forfeitures  —  dropping  out  of  contest  without 
cause,  all  credits  due;  unexcused  absence,  all 
credits  due;  unexcused  tardiness,  25  per  cent 
of  all  credits  due;  less  than  90  per  cent  in 
deportment  for  one  month,  10  per  cent  of  all 
credits  due. 

11.  Awards  —  the  three  having  the  highest  cred- 
its, $3  each;  the  three  having  second  highest, 
$2  each.    Awards  to  be  placed  in  a  savings 
bank  to  the  credit  of  the  pupils  winning  them. 
Funds  for  awards  furnished  by  the  school  dis- 
trict board  out  of  the  general  fund. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    75 

List  of  duties  with  minutes  credit  allowed  for  each 

1.  Building  fire  in  the  morning 5  minutes 

2.  Milking  a  cow 5          " 

3.  Cleaning  a  cow 5 

4.  Cleaning  out  the  barn 10 

5.  Splitting  and  carrying  in  wood  (12 
hours'  supply) 10 

6.  Turning  cream  separator 10 

7.  Cleaning  a  horse 10 

8.  Gathering  eggs 10 

9.  Feeding  chickens 5          " 

10.  Feeding  pigs 5          " 

11.  Feeding  horse 5          " 

12.  Feeding  cow 5          " 

13.  Churning  butter 10 

14.  Making  butter 10 

15.  Blacking  stove 5 

16.  Making  and  baking  bread 60 

17.  Making  biscuits 10 

18.  Preparing  breakfast  for  family 30 

19.  Preparing  supper  for  family  .  . 30 

20.  Washing  and  wiping  dishes  (one  meal)  15 

21.  Sweeping  floor 5          " 

22.  Dusting    furniture    (rugs,    etc.,    one 

room) 5          " 

23.  Scrubbing  floor 20          " 

24.  Making  beds   (must  be  made  after 
school),  each  bed 5 

25.  Washing,  ironing,  and  starching  own 
clothes    that   are    worn    at    school 

(each  week) 120         " 

26.  Bathing  each  week 30         " 

27.  Arriving  at  school  with  clean  hands, 
face,  teeth,  and  nails,  and  with  hair 
combed 10          " 

28.  Practicing  music  lesson  (for  30  min- 
utes)    10 


76    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

29.  Retiring  on  or  before  9  o'clock 5  minutes 

30.  Bathing  and  dressing  baby 10 

31.  Sleeping  with  window  boards  in  bed- 
room (each  night) 5 

32.  Other    work    not   listed,    reasonable 
credit 

While  it  is  sometimes  more  convenient  to 
have  printed  record  slips,  it  is  not  necessary. 
Mr.  O'Reilly  carried  on  the  grading  by  having 
each  child  write  out  his  home  credit  work  on 
ordinary  tablet  paper.  The  great  majority 
of  home  credit  schools  have  used  the  plan  in 
1914  without  any  printing  whatever.  It 
affords  the  children  practice  in  written  expres- 
sion. 

I  give  here  two  sample  slips  brought  in  by 
Mr.  O'Reilly's  pupils  in  the  first  home  credit 
contest  in  the  United  States. 

Tora  Mortensen 

Jan.  31,  1912. 

Prepared  supper 30 

Washed  and  wiped  supper  dishes 15 

Made  3  beds 15 

Swept  1  floor 5 

Washed  teeth 10 

Was  in  bed  at  9  o'clock  .          5 


Total 1  hr.  20  min. 

(Signed)     MBS.  EMMA  SAVAGE. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    77 

La  Vern  Holdredge 

April  16,  1912. 

Fed  chickens 5  minutes 

Gathered  eggs 15 

Split  kindling 10 

Carried  in  wood 15 

Swept  four  floors 20 

Fed  one  horse 5 

Dried  dishes 15 

In  bed  before  nine 5 

April  17,  1912. 

Washed  teeth 10  minutes 

Swept  three  floors 15 

Put  up  lunch 10 

Total 125  minutes 

(Signed)    MRS.  HOLDREDGE. 

Superintendent  A.  R.  Mack,  of  Holton, 
Kansas,  has  issued  the  following  plan  for 
daily  reports  and  the  issue  of  credit  vouchers 
monthly,  in  bulletin  form.  Notice  that  the 
pupil  who  is  paid  in  money,  or  in  any  other 
way,  for  home  work  receives  no  credit.  This 
card  gives  a  very  desirable  emphasis  to  man- 
ners and  personal  care :  — 

Rules 

1.  No  pupil  is  obliged  to  enter  contest. 

2.  Any  pupil  entering  is  free  to  quit  at  any  time, 
but  if  any  one  quits  without  good  cause,  all 


78     SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

credits  he  or  she  may  have  earned  will  be 
forfeited. 

3.  Parent  or  guardian  must  send  daily  to  the 
teacher    an    itemized    list    with    signature 
attached;  this  list  must  contain  the  record  of 
the  work  each  child  has  done  daily. 

4.  At  the  end  of  each  week  the  teacher  may  read 
the  number  of  credits  due  the  pupil  for  that 
week.   At  the  end  of  each  month  the  teacher 
shall  issue  a  credit  voucher  to  the  pupil  giving 
the  total  number  of  credits  due  to  the  pupil 
up  to  date,  for  home  work. 

5.  The  pupil  in  each  grade  making  the  highest 
number  of  credits  each  month  will  receive  an 
added  credit  of  10  per  cent  of  all  credits  due. 

6.  The  school  shall  be  divided  into  two  divi- 
sions.   The  boy  and  the  girl  in  each  division 
in  each  building  receiving  the  highest  num- 
ber of  credits  at  the  end  of  each  half-year 
shall  be  awarded  a  suitable  medal. 

7.  The  boy  and  the  girl  in  each  division  in  each 
building  receiving  the  second  highest  num- 
ber of    credits  shall  at  their  own  option  be 
awarded  a  medal  or  an  additional  10  per  cent 
of  credits  already  due. 

8.  Ten  per  cent  credit  will  be  added  to  final 
examination  results  of  all  pupils  who  enter 
this  contest  before  November  1,  and  continue 
in  it  until  the  end  of  the  year.  Those  entering 
school  after  November  1  must  enter  contest 
before  January  1,  in  order  to  receive  examina- 
tion credit. 

9.  Pupils  entering  the  contest  before  November  1 
or  January  1  will  be  given  credit  not  only  on 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    79 

final   examination  grades,   but  on  monthly 
examination  grades. 

10.  In  case  a  pupil  enters  the  contest  after  Novem- 
ber 1  or  January  1,  credits  for  home  work  will 

'  aPPty  on  monthly  examination  grades  only. 

The  following  schedule  has  been  adopted: 

Grades  of  95  to  100,  additional  credit  of 
half  the  amount  between  the  grade  and  100. 

Grades  of  90  to  95,  a  credit  of  3  is  given. 

Grades  of  85  to  90,  a  credit  of  2  is  given. 

Grades  of  80  to  85,  a  credit  of  1  is  given. 

Below  80,  no  credit. 

11.  Any  pupil  in  the  first  three  grades  earning  600 
credits  during  a  given  month  may  have  a 
quarter  holiday.    Pupils  in  the  fourth  grade 
must  make  700  credits;  pupils  in  the  fifth 
grade  must  make  800  credits;  pupils  in  the 
sixth  grade  must  make  900  credits;  pupils  in 
the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  must  make 
1000  credits  for  a  quarter  holiday. 

All  holidays  are  at  the  discretion  of  the 
teacher;  provided,  that  the  pupil  may  not  have 
more  than  one  quarter  holiday  in  any  20  days, 
and  provided,  that  the  teacher  thinks  that  it 
will  not  interfere  with  school  work. 

In  case  deportment  is  below  90  per  cent, 
the  holiday  will  be  refused. 

12.  Forfeitures  — 

(a)  Dropping  out  of  contest  without  cause 

forfeits  all  credits  due. 
(6)  Unexcused  absence    forfeits  all    credits 

due. 
(c)  Tardiness  forfeits  25  per  cent  of  all  credits 

due. 


80    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

(d)  Less  than  90  per  cent  in  deportment  in 
one  month  forfeits  10  per  cent  of  all  cred- 
its due. 

(e)  Loss  of  temper  forfeits  5  credits. 
(/)  Bad  table  manners  forfeit  5  credits. 

(</)  Impoliteness  to  elders  forfeits  5  credits. 
(h)  Bad  language  at  home  forfeits  5  credits. 
(i)  Discourtesy  to  parents  forfeits  10  credits, 
(j)  Unnecessarily  soiling  clothes  forfeits  5 

credits. 
(k)  Unnecessarily  tearing  clothes  forfeits  5 

credits. 
(0  Report  cards  kept  home  3  days  forfeits 

5  per  cent  credits  and  an  additional  5 

credits  for  each  succeeding  day. 
(m)  Forgetting  books  forfeits  5  credits  per 

book. 

13.  Once  each  month  the  names  of  the  six  pupils 
who  are  in  the  lead  will  be  published  in  the 
Holton  papers. 

14.  A  pupil  who  receives  compensation  for  work 
done,  whether  he  is  paid  in  money  or  in  any 
other  way,  shall  receive  no  school  credit  for 
such  work. 

Credit  Slip  for  Primary  to  Third  Grades,  inclusive 

Credits. 

1.  Carrying  in  cobs  or  kindling 5 

2.  Carrying  in  night  wood  for  kitchen  stove 10 

3.  Feeding  and  watering  chickens 5 

4.  Dusting  one  room 5 

5.  Making  one  bed 5 

6.  Wiping  dishes 5 

7.  Washing  dishes 10 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS  81 

8.  Setting  table 5 

9.  Cleaning  teeth 5 

10.  Combing  hair 5 

11.  Properly  preparing  for  school   (washing  face, 
ears,  neck,  hands;  cleaning  teeth  and  finger 
nails) 20 

12.  Dressing  without  help,  buttoning  shoes,  etc 5 

13.  Going  to  bed  at  or  before  9  P.M 5 

14.  Sleeping  with  window  open  each  night 5 

15.  Dressing  younger  child  and  washing  its  face  ...  5 

16.  Caring  for  younger  children  half-hour 15 

17.  Proper  use  of  handkerchief  one  day 5 

18.  Cleaning  mud  or  snow  from  feet 5 

19.  Practicing  music  lesson  30  minutes 15 

20.  Cleaning  snow  from  porch 5 

21.  Cleaning  snow  from  walks  inside  yard,  each 
walk 5 

22.  Scrubbing  porch 5 

23.  Mending  stockings,  per  pair 5 

24.  Filling  the  water  bucket 5 

25.  Returning  report  card  on  first  day 10 

26.  Returning  report  card  on  second  day 5 

27.  Polishing  the  shoes 10 

28.  Getting  home  before  4.30  and  remaining  home 

30  minutes 15 

Other  work  not  listed,  reasonable  credit. 

Credit  Slip  for  Fourth  to  Eighth  Grades,  inclusive 

Credits. 

1.  Building  a  fire  in  morning 5 

2.  Milking  a  cow 5 

3.  Cleaning  out  a  barn 10 

1,4.  Splitting  and  carrying  in  wood,  12  hours'  supply  15 

5.  Bringing  in  kindling 5 

6.  Bringing  in  coal,  per  bucket 5 

7.  Filling  water  bucket 6 

8.  Cleaning  a  horse 10 


82    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

9.  Feeding  and  watering  chickens 5 

10.  Feeding  pigs 5 

11.  Feeding  horse 5 

12.  Feeding  cow 5 

13.  Blacking  stove 5 

14.  Making  and  baking  bread 60 

15.  Making  biscuits 10 

16.  Preparing  breakfast  for  family 30 

17.  Preparing  supper  for  family 30 

18.  Washing  and  wiping  dishes,  one  meal 15 

19.  Sweeping  one  room 5 

20.  Dusting  one  room 5 

21.  Making  one  bed 5 

22.  Scrubbing  one  floor 20 

23.  Making  a  cake 20 

24.  Practicing  music  lesson  half -hour 15 

25.  Tending  flowers  in  window 10 

26.  Working  in  garden  half-hour 15 

27.  Cleaning  snow  from  sidewalk 25 

28.  Mending  stockings,  per  pair 5 

29.  Washing,    starching   and   ironing   own   school 
clothes  each  week 60 

30.  Bathing  (each  bath) 30 

31.  Cleaning  teeth 5 

32.  Combing  hah- 5 

33.  Properly  preparing  for  school   (washing  face, 
ears,  neck,  hands;  cleaning  teeth  and  finger 
nails) 20 

34.  Retiring  at  or  before  9  P.M 5 

35.  Getting  up  at  or  before  7  A.M 5 

36.  Bathing  and  dressing  baby 10 

37.  Sleeping  with  window  open  each  night 5 

38.  Dressing  younger  child,  washing  its  face,  etc. . .  5 

39.  Caring  for  younger  child,  each  half-hour 15 

40.  Home  study,  each  half-hour 10 

41.  Making  pies,  10  credits  for  the  first  and  5  credits 
for  each  additional  pie. 

42.  Ironing  one  hour 30 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS  83 

43.  Running  washing  machine  one  hour 30 

44.  Bringing  cow  from  pasture,  2  or  3  blocks 5 

45.  Bringing  cow  from  pasture,  8  or  9  blocks 15 

46.  Errands  down  town 10 

47.  Carrying  clothes 10 

48.  Helping  prepare  the  meal 10 

49.  Pumping  a  tank  of  water 60 

50.  Harrowing  2  hours 60 

51.  Carrying  dinner 10 

52.  Churning 20 

53.  Dressing  a  chicken 25 

54.  Returning  report  cards  on  first  day 10 

55.  Returning  report  cards  on  second  day 5 

56.  Polishing  the  shoes 10 

57.  Getting  home  before  4.30  and  remaining  home 

30  minutes 15 

Other  work  not  listed,  reasonable  credit. 


General  Rule 

For  unlisted  work  credit  will  be  given.  One  credit 
will  be  given  for  every  two  minutes'  work. 

Mr.  N.  V.  Rowe,  the  teacher  at  St.  John, 
Whitman  County,  Washington,  describes  a 
novel  plan :  — 

At  first  I  used  a  credit  card  arranged  after  the 
order  of  a  meal  ticket.  The  plan  was  to  have  the 
card  hold  credits  enough  for  one  school  day  of  360 
minutes,  arranged  by  5's,  10's,  15's,  20's,  25's,  and 
30's.  The  idea  is  all  right  were  it  amplified  so  as 
to  include  a  school  week.  The  teacher  has  a  punch, 
and  punches  or  cancels  credits  as  presented.  I 
found  this  took  too  many  cards  for  each  pupil. 


84    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Some  brought  in  as  high  as  360  minutes  in  credits 
each  day,  and  even  more  than  that  in  some  cases. 
At  present  I  am  using  a  plan  similar  to  a  grocer's 
manifolding  or  duplicating  book  where  totals  are 
forwarded  each  day.  This  saves  time  and  in  some 
ways  is  better  than  the  ticket  plan. 

The  results  have  certainly  justified  the  effort 
here.  (1)  It  lessens  tardiness;  (2)  it  enlists  the 
attention  of  parents  quicker  than  anything  else; 
(3)  it  stimulates  to  better  work  in  school;  (4)  it 
creates  a  wholesome  rivalry.  I  have  heard  the 
following  objections  to  it:  It  requires  too  much 
time  of  a  teacher  already  very  busy;  and  pupils 
get  a  holiday  when  they  ought  to  be  at  their 
studies.  These  objections  are  weak.  The  plan 
certainly  has  a  sound  pedagogic  principle  for  its 
foundation. 

The  children  get  but  one  holiday  a  month.  In 
case  a  pupil  is  ill  or  necessarily  absent  for  a  day, 
it  is  very  convenient  to  allow  that  as  a  holiday. 
This  helps  the  attendance  record  wonderfully, 
and  is  perfectly  legitimate,  so  far  as  I  can  see.  We 
have  been  doing  that  way  all  the  present  year. 
Bear  in  mind,  we  allow  such  as  a  holiday  only 
when  one  has  not  been  allowed  already  for  that 
particular  month.  In  the  register  I  mark  the  initial 
"H"  wherever  a  holiday  is  granted,  and  in  this 
way  I  keep  tab. 

At  Burnt  Ridge,  near  Alpha,  Washington, 
in  Mrs.  Venona  E.  Toman's  school,  a  postal- 
card  photograph  is  given  as  a  little  reward 
of  merit  for  each  1000  credits  earned.  Five 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS     85 

credits  are  taken  off  for  coming  to  school 
with  neck  and  ears  not  clean.  One  hundred 
and  twenty  credits  are  given  to  the  child  who 
washes,  starches,  and  irons  her  school  clothes 
for  the  week.  Practicing  music  and  studying 
lessons  get  ten  credits  for  half  an  hour;  but 
hard  work,  like  sawing  wood  and  making  a 
garden,  gets  one  credit  for  each  two  minutes. 

The  following  is  an  excerpt  from  a  letter 
from  the  Burnt  Ridge  teacher: — • 

I  have  the  children  keep  their  own  records,  tell- 
ing them  that  I  want  them  to  learn  to  do  their  own 
business.  Then  their  mothers  look  over  and  sign 
their  reports.  Without  one  exception  the  parents 
are  pleased  with  the  plan.  The  mothers  tell  me 
that  the  children  hurry  to  get  all  done  they  possi- 
bly can  before  school  time,  as  they  want  their 
credits  to  increase.  One  mother  said  there  was 
more  trouble  now  between  her  two  girls  because 
neither  one  wanted  help  than  there  was  before 
when  they  wanted  help.  I  require  that  the  work  be 
done  cheerfully.  One  mother  said  she  believed  her 
daughters  sang  about  their  work  many  times  when 
they  did  not  feel  a  bit  like  it.  I  notice  myself,  and 
others  tell  me  that  it  is  making  a  difference  in  the 
homes.  I  think  this  one  of  the  best  features  that 
has  been  added  to  the  school  work.  It  teaches 
independence,  thoughtfulness,  and  thrift. 


86    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

MORNING  AND  EVENING  RECORD,  WEEKLY 
REPORT 

Marion  County,  Oregon,  uses  a  card  issued 
by  Superintendent  W.  M.  Smith,  which  pro- 
vides for  a  record  of  daily  morning  and  evening 
home  tasks,  and  a  weekly  report. 

This  county  forms  an  object  lesson  in  the 
correct  presentation  of  a  subject  of  this  kind. 
Superintendent  Smith  first  picked  out  a 
teacher  that  he  knew  had  initiative  and  was 
able  to  carry  her  people  with  her.  He  ex- 
plained the  matter  to  her  in  detail  and  kept  in 
close  touch  with  her  work.  Her  success  was  so 
pronounced  that  he  thought  that  it  was  not 
necessary  to  make  much  effort  to  extend  the 
plan  into  the  surrounding  districts;  he  knew 
it  would  spread  of  itself.  And  it  did;  like  a 
prairie  fire,  he  found  it  leaping  over  districts 
and  catching  in  others,  until  now  it  is  widely 
used  in  the  county.  The  card  is  the  result  of 
much  experience  and  a  few  conferences  with 
some  of  Mr.  Smith's  best  people. 

Notice  that  honesty  of  record  is  empha- 
sized; also  observe  the  details  of  dairy  work 
and  the  care  of  horses :  — 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    87 


School . 


Home  Credit  Blank 
. Dis't  No. .     ..  Teacher . 


Name Age Grade  . . . 

Object :  To  secure  the  cooperation  of  the  Home  and  the  School 


....Day  of  191.. 

Credits 
for  each 

Monday 
a.m.  p.m. 

Tuesday 

a.m.  p.m. 

Wednes. 
a.m.p.m. 

Thursday 
a.m.p.m. 

Friday 
a.m.p.m. 

1 

1.  Bath  

5 

2.  Teeth  cleaned  

1 

3.  No.   loaves  of    bread 

16 

10 

5.  No.  of  meals  prepared 

15 

6.  Wiped  dishes  (all  for 

5 

7.  Washed    dishes    (all 

5 

8    Set  the  table 

2 

2 

10 

10 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

18.  No.  of  fires  built  

2 

19    Split  the  wood 

3 

2 

21.  Fed  the  pigs  ....   .... 

2 

\ 

\ 

1 

1 

5 

1 

28.  No.  cow  stalls  cleaned 
29.  No.    of    horse    stall* 

1 
1 

TOTAL. 


Reasonable  credit  may  be  given  for  other  work.  When  the  answer  is  Yes  or  No  as 
in  8  and  9,  etc.,  write  1  for  yes  and  leave  blank  for  no. 

PARENT  :  —  As  one  who  insists  upon  absolute  honesty  being  taught,  my  signature 
below  certifies  that  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  this  report  is  correct. 

I'AllENT. 


88    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Oscar  L.  Dunlap,  principal  of  the  school  at 
Salem  Heights,  Marion  County,  gives  the 
following  explanation  of  the  way  home  credits 
were  recognized  in  his  school  the  first  year :  — 

The  first  month  we  gave  cash  prizes;  then  this 
was  abandoned  and  we  allowed  20  per  cent  to  be 
added  to  each  of  any  two  subjects,  and  10  per  cent 
to  any  one  subject  in  the  monthly  tests.  We  give 
twelve  questions  (answer  any  ten)  and  those  hav- 
ing 20  per  cent  allowance  need  answer  only  eight 
questions,  and  so  on.  In  my  room  the  pupils  work 
harder  to  earn  the  20  per  cent  allowance  than  they 
did  to  earn  the  cash  prizes;  for  in  this  way  every 
one  receives  a  prize.  Some  think  this  is  a  wrong 
way  to  give  rewards.  I  was  myself  in  doubt  at 
first;  but  my  pupils  have  actually  worked  harder 
during  the  past  two  months  than  during  the  six 
months  before  we  adopted  this  plan. 

DAILY   EECORDS,    WEEKLY   REPORTS 

In  Spokane  County,  Washington,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  teachers  have  used  home 
credits  during  the  school  year  of  1913-14. 
Superintendent  E.  G.  McFarland  became 
interested  in  the  work  that  one  of  his  rural 
teachers  started  on  home  credits  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  schools  in  the  fall  of  1913.  Mr. 
McFarland  obtained  what  information  he 
could  on  the  subject,  and  then  worked  out  a 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    89 

plan.  This  made  provision  for  a  daily  record 
for  five  days,  and  a  weekly  report.  At  his 
institute  he  presented  the  project  to  his 
teachers,  and  in  January  some  eighty-one 
began  the  work.  Others  soon  followed. 

The  Spokane  Chamber  of  Commerce  sent 
out  a  story  of  Spokane  County's  home  credits 
to  eight  hundred  and  fifty  of  its  correspond- 
ents in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  For  a 
while  the  superintendent's  office  was  flooded 
with  letters  of  inquiry  relative  to  the  plan. 
This  shows  the  great  interest  taken  every- 
where in  any  movement  calculated  to  better 
the  child's  school  and  home  relationship. 

At  a  parent-teachers'  meeting  in  Spokane 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  assist  the 
principal  of  one  of  the  schools  in  keeping  the 
children  off  the  streets.  At  that  time  it  was 
arranged  that  credit  at  school  should  be  given 
to  all  children  off  the  streets  after  six  o'clock, 
and  to  those  who  did  not  go  to  evening 
parties. 

Below  is  the  Spokane  County  plan. 

Bulletin  for  Teachers :  Home  Credits 

The  following  are  the  rules  and  reward  offered 
for  home  work.  This  work  is  to  be  done  during  the 


90    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

school  week.  No  one  is  compelled  to  enter  this 
contest  and  the  pupil  may  drop  out  at  any  time. 

All  work  must  be  voluntary  on  the  part  of  the 
pupil.  Parents  are  requested  not  to  sign  papers 
for  pupils  if  the  work  is  not  voluntarily  and  cheer- 
fully done. 

The  rewards  for  this  work  are:  — 

One  half -holiday  each  month  to  the  child  who 
has  earned  one  hundred  or  more  home  credits,  and 
has  not  been  absent  or  tardy  for  the  month;  also 
5  per  cent  will  be  added  to  his  final  examination. 
The  pupil  who  earns  one  hundred  or  more  credits 
each  month  but  fails  in  perfect  attendance  will 
have  the  5  per  cent  added  to  his  final  examination. 

In  addition,  the  board  of  directors  may  offer  a 
prize  to  the  pupil  in  each  grade  who  shall  have  the 
greatest  amount  of  home  credits,  and  shall  be 
neither  absent  nor  tardy  during  the  term,  or  from 
the  adoption  of  these  rules. 

List  of  Home  Credits 

Personal  cleanliness 2  Retiring  before  9  o'clock 1 

Cleaning  teeth 1  Feeding  and  watering  chickens . .  1 

Cleaning  finger  nails 1  Feeding  and  watering  horses ....  1 

Practicing  music  lesson ...  2  Feeding  and  watering  cows 1 

Dressing  baby 1  Feeding  and  watering  hogs 1 

Washing  dishes 1  Gathering  eggs 1 

Sweeping  floor 1  Cleaning  chicken  house 1 

Making  bed 1  Going  for  mail 1 

Preparing  meal 2  Picking  apples 2 

Making  a  cake 1  Picking  potatoes 2 

Making  biscuits 1  Bringing  in  wood  for  to-day ....  1 

Churning 2  Splitting  wood  for  to-day 1 

Scrubbing  floor 2  Bringing  in  water  for  to-day 1 

Dusting 1  Grooming  horse 1 

Blacking  stove 1  Milking  cow 1 

Darning  stockings 1  Working  in  field 2 

Delivering  papers 2  Going  for  milk 1 

E.  G.  McFABLAND, 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    91 

The  following  statement  is  made  by  Super- 
intendent McFarland  as  to  the  effect  home 
credits  had  on  attendance  in  1913-14:  — 

We  attribute  the  increase  in  our  attendance  this 
year  in  the  schools  of  Spokane  County,  outside  the 
city  of  Spokane,  largely  to  the  Home  Credit  Sys- 
tem and  our  certificates  for  perfect  attendance. 
While  the  enrollment  was  108  less  than  last  year, 
yet  our  attendance  was  16,712  days  more.  At  the 
present  rate  of  16  cents  per  day,  the  pupils  earned 
for  the  county,  from  the  State  appropriation,  nearly 
$2700  more  than  last  year.  With  the  same  en- 
rollment as  last  year  the  increase  of  apportion- 
ment would  have  reached  approximately  $6000. 

The  credit  slip  for  the  school  week  provides 
for  a  daily  record  of  "chores  or  work  done" 
from  Monday  to  Friday  inclusive.  It  does 
not  contain  a  stated  list  of  duties;  the  blanks 
are  to  be  filled  iii  by  the  child.  The  list  of 
home  credits  is  furnished  each  district,  but 
the  teacher  uses  her  judgment  in  allowing 
credit  for  any  chore  peculiar  to  her  locality. 
On  page  92  is  given  one  of  these  blanks  with 
the  work  itemized.  Note  the  evidence  of  co- 
operation between  Jessie  and  her  mother.  On 
the  mornings  when  Jessie  gets  the  breakfast 
her  mother  dresses  the  baby,  and  vice  versa. 


92    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 


Home  Credit  Work 

Dist.  No 

Name,  Jessie  Jones.  Age  12.     Grade  6th. 


Chores  or  work  done 

Mon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thar. 

Fri. 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

e 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 
2 

1 
5 

5 

4 

7 

4 

(Signed)  MRS.  MARY  A.  JONES, 

Parent's  Signature. 

Here  is  a  letter  from  a  little  girl  who  earns 
home  credits  in  a  grown-up  way :  — 

CHENEY,  WASHINGTON, 
April  27,  1914. 

DEAR  MRS.  THOMASON: 

I  am  nine  years  old,  and  in  the  fourth  grade.  I 
think  I  will  pass  into  the  fifth  grade.  I  like  to  go 
to  school.  My  teacher  is  Miss  Grier.  I  like  her. 
We  get  Home  Credits  in  our  school. 

I  have  n't  any  pets,  but  I  have  a  little  sister  and 
a  little  brother.  They  are  twins,  and  were  born 
on  my  birthday,  June  11.  Their  names  are  Ruth 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    93 


and  Millard.    They  are  awfully  sweet  and  good, 
and  I  like  them  a  good  deal  better  than  pets.  I  get 
credit  at  school  for  taking  care  of  them. 
Your  little  friend, 

CLARA  LOUISE  PETERSON. 

Report  of  Clara  Louise  for  week  ending 
May  1,  1914:- 

Home  Credit  Work 
Dist.  No.  18. 
Name,  Clara  Louise  Peterson.  Age  9.      Grade  4t7i. 


Chores  or  work  done 

Hon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thur. 

Fri. 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

3 

1 

1 

Setting  table  

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

g 

15 

17 

16 

15 

(Signed) 


MRS.  J.  C.  PETERSON, 

Parent's  Signature. 


94    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Superintendent  McFarland  has  received 
many  letters  of  appreciation  from  teachers 
and  parents  in  his  county.  One  teacher 
writes :  — 

The  system  helps,  in  bringing  the  school  and 
home  closer  together  by  letting  the  parents  see  that 
we  count  the  practical  duties  of  the  house  and 
of  the  farm  of  actual  value  in  the  training  of  the 
child. 

One  father  is  encouraging  his  three  boys  to  earn 
more  than  the  required  home  credits  by  paying 
them  a  small  sum  of  money  for  each  additional 
five  credits. 

Another  writes :  — 

The  teachers  have  noted  many  cases  of  much 
improved  personal  cleanliness,  which  in  itself  has 
been  a  welcome  reward.  Then,  you  know,  im- 
proved morals  go  hand  in  hand  with  clean  bodies. 
We  are  taking  into  account  the  fact  that  clean- 
liness on  the  part  of  one  child  usually  forces 
another  to  clean  up  on  account  of  the  inevitable 
contrast. 

A  parent  writes :  — 

The  home  credit  system  is  to  my  mind  one  of 
the  most  practical  features  that  has  been  intro- 
duced into  the  public-school  curriculum  for  some 
time.  It  teaches  the  children  self-reliance,  and 
encourages  them  to  take  the  initiative  when  here- 
tofore they  have  been  indifferent  or  careless.  Its 
practical  help  to  the  parents  is  inestimable,  as 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    95 

children  in  pursuit  of  "credits"  take  innumerable 
burdens  from  the  parents'  shoulders. 

This  from  another  parent:  — 

Regarding  the  home  credit  system  of  the  public 
school,  my  sentiment  as  the  parent  of  two  boys 
attending  school  is  that  it  is  working  fine.  It  makes 
my  boys  ambitious  to  earn  as  many  credits  as 
possible,  and  this  system  as  laid  out  leads  them  to 
take  interest  in  the  practical  duties  of  their  home, 
thereby  saving  parents  many  a  step,  and  training 
the  boys  for  useful  work.  The  home  credit  system 
also  stimulates  punctuality  in  attending  school  as 
well  as  personal  neatness,  and  regular  habits  in 
going  to  bed  at  the  right  time.  It  seems  to  me  that 
this  credit  system  to  a  great  extent  completes  the  pur- 
pose of  the  public  school. 

One  teacher  in  Spokane  County  has  solved 
the  problem  of  the  rural  janitor  with  home 
credits.  Like  thousands  of  other  girls  teach- 
ing in  country  schools,  she  had  difficulty  in 
keeping  the  schoolhouse  clean.  Beginning  in 
January  she  offered  school  credit  for  outside 
work,  and  she  included  in  her  list  the  care  of 
the  schoolhouse.  She  reports  that  the  room 
is  kept  perfectly  now.  The  floors  are  swept, 
the  woodwork  dusted,  the  blackboards  and 
erasers  cleaned,  water  and  wood  supplied. 
This  same  teacher,  Miss  Lizzie  K.  Merritt, 
says : — 


96    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

It  is  not  pleasant  to  work  without  appreciation. 
We  all  know  that  we  make  a  short  job  of  the  unap- 
preciated piece  of  work.  We  cannot  expect  a  child 
to  stay  with  a  thing  as  long  as  an  older  person 
unless  he  sees  a  definite  reward.  I  have  found  that 
home  credits  teach  observation,  accuracy,  and 
punctuality. 

The  following  is  an  excerpt  from  a  circular 
sent  out  by  Mr.  Harry  F.  Heath,  principal  of 
the  school  at  Eveline,  Lewis  County,  Wash- 
ington, at  the  beginning  of  a  home  credit 
contest,  stating  his  plan.  This  makes  provi- 
sion for  a  daily  record  for  six  days,  a  weekly 
report,  and  a  voucher:  — 

Eveline  Public  School 

EVELINE,  WASH.,  January  5,  1914. 

DEAR  PATRON:  — 

Sometimes,  in  the  rush  of  classes,  we  of  the 
school  forget  about  the  home  life  of  the  scholar. 
And  many  times  you  of  the  home  know  but  little 
of  what  is  going  on  at  school.  In  order  to  connect 
more  closely  for  the  pupil  the  influences  of  both 
home  and  school,  I  am  planning  this  contest  in 
home  work  for  the  next  four  months. 

In  order  that  the  contest  may  be  successful,  we 
ask  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  each  parent.  The 
parent  is  the  judge  of  the  amount  of  work  done 
by  the  pupil,  and  upon  the  parent  we  depend  for 
the  accuracy  of  the  reports.  Have  the  pupil  pre- 
pare his  or  her  own  list  of  duties  performed,  ready 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    97 

for  your  signature,  and  make  it  your  duty  to  see 
that  the  lists  are  accurate  at  all  times,  neither 
more  nor  less  than  the  actual  amount  performed. 
All  lists  should  be  dated,  and  none  will  be  accepted 
unless  signed  by  you. 

The  prizes  will  not  be  expensive,  and  will  be 
given  only  as  tokens  of  award.  The  real  awards 
will  be  realized  during  the  course  of  the  contest 
as  set  forth  by  the  rules. 

Then  follows  the  list  of  credits  and  the 
rules. 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Heath  dated  April  21, 
1914,  tells  the  way  in  which  he  carried  on  the 
work  this  year.  Mr.  Heath  says :  — 

In  answer  to  your  request  for  information  about 
our  home  credits  contest,  I  am  sending  some  of  the 
circulars  which  I  used  at  the  beginning,  and  also 
some  vouchers  made  by  the  pupils  which  I  use  to 
give  out  weekly  credits.  I  am  also  sending  some 
sample  slips  of  credits  brought  in  by  some  of  the 
pupils.  These  slips  show  credits  for  an  entire 
week,  which  has  proved  to  be  the  most  satisfactory 
way  to  have  the  slips  kept.  A  notebook  kept  by 
me  of  the  weekly  and  monthly  totals,  as  well  as 
the  holidays  granted  and  forfeitures  assessed,  is 
all  of  the  record  that  our  system  has  required. 

Two  progressive  business  men  of  Chehalis  are 
furnishing  inexpensive  prizes  in  the  form  of  books 
to  go  to  the  seven  leaders  in  the  contest  at  its  close. 
Four  of  the  prizes  will  probably  go  to  boys,  but 
by  the  rules  at  least  three  are  to  go  to  girls.  I  find 


98    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

in  this  community  that  the  boys  have  much  more 
opportunity  to  earn  credits  than  the  girls.  Hence 
the  rule. 

The  contest  has  run  for  four  months  and  is 
closing  this  week.  It  has  been  very  well  received 
in  the  community,  a  number  of  suggestions  having 
come  in  from  parents  in  the  way  of  additional 
credits.  One  was  a  request  that  credits  be  given 
for  daily  reading  of  the  Bible,  and  the  change  was 
made.  In  my  room,  which  is  the  highest  in  our 
two-room  school,  practically  all  of  the  scholars 
started,  and  of  the  thirty-four  at  that  time  in  the 
contest  about  twenty-five  are  still  enrolled,  and 
the  percentage  would  be  larger  if  some  of  the 
beginners  had  not  moved  away. 

The  contest  was  tried  for  a  while  in  the  lower 
grades  but  was  not  successful  there.  We  limited 
the  points  that  might  be  added  to  the  general 
average  to  six  in  any  one  month,  and  most  of  the 
live  contestants  got  their  six  every  month. 

I  got  my  ideas  of  the  contest  directly  from  Mr. 
Alderman's  article,  which  I  found  in  some  paper. 
It  has  been  on  the  whole  very  successful,  and 
worth  while.  When  I  try  this  sort  of  work  again, 
it  will  be  on  the  plan  of  regular  credits,  not  in 
contest  form.  I  believe  the  Spokane  County  plan 
as  used  this  spring  is  one  that  would  prove  very 
satisfactory. 

The  Eveline  "voucher"  plan  gives  the 
pupil  something  to  watch  for.  The  first 
paragraph  of  Mr.  Heath's  letter  explains  the 
use  of  these  vouchers.  Below  are  sample 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    99 

vouchers,  and  copies  of  slips  made  out  by 
the  pupils.  The  pupils  rule  the  columns,  and 
write  out  their  own  records,  according  to  a 
published  list  which  shows  the  value  in  min- 
utes of  each  task.  This  work  is  good  practice 
for  the  pupil  in  ruling  lines  and  making  neat 
cards,  and  it  saves  the  cost  of  printing  cards. 

The  vouchers,  which  are  taken  home,  en- 
able each  pupil  to  have  at  home,  as  well  as  at 
school,  a  record  of  the  total  amount  of  his 
work. 


Home  Credits  Voucher 

No.  /  & 
No.credits 


K?-SX~4v~-*^  ^tex^rv^ 


Home  Credits  Voucher 

No.    JZ~~ 
No.credits  /  6  /  £> 


100    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Home  Credits 


Alberta  Lemon 


March  30  -  April  4. 


Mon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thur. 

Fri. 

Sat. 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

Cleaned  teeth  

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

15 

10 

5 

5 

25 

5 

5 

15 

15 

Made  beds         

10 

5 

10 

10 

5 

5 

10 

10 

5 

25 

30 

Wiped  milk  pails  

5 

5 

Peeled  apples  

30 

30 

Made  lunches  

20 

Washed  milk  pails  

10 

Washed  dishes  

5 

Retired  at  9  

5 

5 

5 

5 

Mended  garments  

20 

Studied  

10 

30 

10 

20 

Ironed  garments  

50 

215 

75 

Helped  with  meal  

10 

10 

10 

Went  errands  

5 

5 

10 

fl 

Scrubbed  

40 

Took  bath  

30 

135 
110 

110 

165 

100 

245 

260 

165 

100 

245 

260 

1015 

MBS.  A.  C.  LEMON. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    101 

Home  Credits 
Rosa  G. 


6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

Made  fires  

5 

5 

10 

Preparing  meals  

60 

30 

30 

30 

60 

60 

Set  table  

10 

5 

5 

10 

10 

10 

Washed  dishes  

5 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

Wiped  dishes  

5 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

Washed  milk  pails  

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

Carried  in  water  

10 

10 

10 

10 

20 

20 

10 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

Washing  separator  

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

30 

Fed  pets  

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

Ironing  clothes  

35 

100 

400 

Making,  beds  

15 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

Cleaned  my  teeth  

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

Slept  with  window  open  

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

Retired  before  nine  

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

Washed  baby  

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

Dressed  baby  '. 

5 

5 

5 

5 

Sweeping  floors  

30 

Total  

185 

195 

165 

270 

215 

655 

Total. 


.1685 


CHAS.  F.  CONBADI. 


102    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

The  Cowlitz  County,  Washington,  plan  is 
a  daily  record  for  seven  days  and  a  weekly 
report.  The  rules  governing  the  work  are 
printed  on  the  back  of  the  credit  card :  — 

Work  of  Home  Record 
Lavita  Fowler  [age  12~\. 

For  week  ending  March  13,  1914- 


Sun. 

Mon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thur. 

Fri. 

Sat. 

Tr»fnl 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

SO 

60 

90 

2.  Splitting  and 
carrying  in 

3   Milking  

4.  Care  of  horses 

6.  Care  of  poultry 

7.  Turning  sepa- 

8.  Churning  

0.  Sweeping  or  
dusting  

10.  Washing  or 
ironing  

25 

20 

30 

10 

20 

105 

11.  Preparing  meals 

30 

60 

40 

130 

12.  Washing  dishes 
13.  Bedroom  work  . 

60 

55 

45 
30 

20 
20 

30 

45 

90 

345 
50 

14.  Sewing  

15.  Caring  for  little 
children.  

30 

90 

60 

60 

240 

ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    103 

Work  of  Home  Record — continued 


Sun. 

Mon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thur. 

Fri. 

Sat. 

Total 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

18.  Building  fires  .  . 

17.  Bathing  

10 

10 

18.  Brushing  teeth 

s 

5 

6 

16 

10.  Sleeping  with 
open  window 

20.  To  bed  by  9 
o'clock  

10 
10 

10 

10 

10 
10 

10 

10 

10 
10 

10 
10 

10 
10 

70 

70 

21.  Attending 
Church  or 
Sunday 
School  .  .    . 

10 

10 

Getting  sister  ready 
for  school  .  .  . 

15 

10 

15 

15 

20 

75 

Washing  floors     . 

40 

40 

160 

Total  

85 

85 

30 

40 

35 

40 

76 

451 

I  certify  that  the  above  is  a  correct  record. 

MKS.  FOWLER, 
Signature  of  Parent  or  Guardian. 

Rules  governing  Credit  for  Home  Work 

To  PARENTS  OR  GUARDIANS:  — 

The  scheme  of  giving  credit  at  school  for  work 
done  at  home  by  the  pupils  can  be  made  successful 
only  through  your  cooperation,  and  faithful  report 
of  the  work  done. 

Every  Friday  afternoon  a  Home  Work  Record 
Slip  will  be  given  each  pupil.  Beginning  with 
Sunday  all  time  spent  by  the  pupils  in  home  work 
should  be  entered  in  the  proper  place. 

Each  Monday  morning  a  slip  filled  in  during  the 


104    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

previous  week  should  be  returned  to  the  teacher. 
This  slip  must  be  signed  by  the  parent  or  guardian. 

Extra  work  may  be  listed  in  the  blank  spaces. 

To  secure  credit  at  school  for  his  work,  the  pupil 
should  average  eight  hours  a  week,  thirty-two 
hours  a  month,  at  real,  honest,  helpful  labor  that 
relieves  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  that  amount 
of  work.  If  this  is  done,  the  teacher  will  add  three 
credits  to  the  average  gained  by  the  pupil  at  the 
school  during  the  month  in  his  studies.  Additional 
credits  will  be  given  for  more  than  thirty-two 
hours  a  month  at  the  rate  of  one  credit  for  every 
ten  hours'  work. 

Please  cooperate  with  your  teacher  in  this  plan 
for  making  work  more  worth  while  to  the  boy  and 
girl. 

LUCIA  JENKINS, 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools. 

In  the  District  61  School,  near  Belling- 
ham,  Washington,  taught  by  Mrs.  Lou  Albee 
Maynard,  there  is  used  a  system  of  having 
the  home  credit  accounts  kept  by  pupils;  the 
children  call  it  the  Ruth  and  Grace  System. 

Here  is  a  plan  that  solves  the  problem,  if 
it  is  a  problem,  of  putting  extra  work  on  the 
teacher  through  home  credits.  Not  only  is  the 
teacher  entirely  relieved  of  the  bookkeeping 
which  the  system  requires,  but  the  pupils  are 
engaged  in  practical  bookkeeping  while  they 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    105 

keep  the  records.  Checks  are  made  out  in  reg- 
ular bank-check  form,  and  receipts  are  given. 
The  Ruth  and  Grace  System  is  thus  de- 
scribed in  a  neat  account  written  by  Emma 
Ames,  a  pupil  in  the  sixth  grade :  — 

Ruth  and  Grace  were  girls  who  wanted  to  learn 
bookkeeping.  In  order  to  give  them  a  chance  we 
took  up  the  credit  system. 

At  the  end  of  each  week  the  girls  give  us  a  slip 
of  paper  ruled  and  ready  to  be  made  out.  The 
mothers  sign  it.  Each  thing  which  we  do  counts 
so  much.  At  the  end  of  the  week  these  slips  are 
handed  back  to  the  girls,  and  we  receive  another. 
We  also  get  a  check  telling  how  many  credits  we 
received  the  week  before. 

When  we  make  five  thousand  credits  we  then 
receive  a  composition  book.  Smaller  things  are 
also  given  for  fewer  credits. 

The  girls  keep  in  their  ledgers  each  person's 
work.  So  if  any  mistake  is  made  they  will  have 
something  to  refer  to. 

We  call  the  system  the  Ruth  and  Grace  System. 

The  prize  list  is  as  follows :  — 

Washing  dishes 10  credits. 

Wiping  dishes 5 

Sweeping 5 

Making  beds 5 

Baking  bread 15 

Dusting 5 

Scrubbing 25 

Practicing  music 10 

Brushing  teeth 5 


106    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Clean  finger  nails 5  credits 

Splitting  kindling 10 

Splitting  wood 10        " 

Carrying  water 10        " 

Milking  cow 15       " 

Feeding  pigs , 5        " 

Feeding  chickens 5 

Feeding  and  bedding  cows 25 

Slashing  one  hour 25 

Getting  a  meal 15 

Taking  charge  of  house 50 

Charge  for  father  one  day 50 

Building  fires 10 

Sewing 15 

Making  an  apron 15 

Carrying  wood 10 

Washing 25 

Ironing • 25 

The  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Maynard 
explains  the  system  further: — 

I  have  been  requested  to  report  on  our  plan  for 
giving  credit  for  home  work  as  we  have  tried  it. 
One  of  my  pupils  has  written  a  report  of  our  system 
which  explains  our  methods  nicely.  This  has  been 
only  a  trial,  but  I  am  so  pleased  with  results  that 
I  intend  to  use  it  whenever  there  are  older  pupils 
who  can  do  the  bookkeeping,  for  it  represents  a 
great  deal  of  work,  and  unless  the  school  is  a  very 
small  one  the  system  would  add  too  much  to  the 
already  busy  teacher's  work. 

The  girls  who  are  represented  by  our  firm  carried 
on  the  work  on  a  strictly  business  basis.  They 
bought  the  work  of  the  pupils  as  represented  by 
the  weekly  reports.  This  work  was  then  sold  to 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    107 

me  at  a  gain  of  20  per  cent.  The  girls  have  worked 
out  a  simple  system  of  double  entry  in  six  weeks. 
We,  as  a  school,  have  spent  an  interesting  and 
profitable  time,  keeping  track  of  our  work,  and 
of  their  mistakes,  and  the  various  ups  and  downs 
of  a  business. 

We  are  planning  a  better  schedule  of  wages,  a 
bank  in  which  to  deposit  our  checks,  and  a  store 
where  the  credits  may  be  exchanged  for  little 
articles  which  represent  the  rewards;  but  this  is 
all  in  the  making,  and  may  have  to  wait  for 
another  year,  as  our  school  term  closes  soon. 

This  is  a  school  whose  average  attendance  is 
about  sixteen.  The  people  are  progressive,  and 
see  that  we  have  all  modern  appliances:  gymna- 
sium, school  garden,  bubbling  fountain,  sanitary 
toilets,  and  a  good  heating  system  are  some  of  the 
good  things  our  country  school  enjoys. 

Some  original  features  are  included  in  a 
plan  in  operation  in  Algona,  King  County, 
Washington.  The  Algona  plan  of  grading  is 
this :  The  actual  number  of  minutes  employed 
in  doing  the  daily  chores  is  registered.  Thirty 
minutes  is  allowed  for  church  attendance. 
Twenty-five  per  cent  is  given  weekly  for  each 
of  the  personal  care  items,  bathing,  brushing 
teeth,  sleeping  with  open  windows,  and  going 
to  bed  before  nine  o'clock.  Half  an  hour's 
work  must  be  done  each  day,  else  the  pupil 
forfeits  the  work  done  that  day.  If  at  the  end 


108    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

of  a  month  the  pupil  has  made  an  average  of 
85  per  cent  on  personal  care,  and  has  85  per 
cent  on  home  work,  his  grade  average  for  the 
month  is  raised  10  per  cent.  For  instance,  if 
a  boy  should  have  the  required  85  per  cent  in 
the  home  credit  department,  and  should  have 
an  average  of  80  per  cent  in  his  school  sub- 
jects, his  final  grade  for  the  month  would  be 
88  per  cent. 

Algona  uses  a  book  system  of  keeping  the 
pupils'  weekly  home  credit  grades.  The  prin- 
cipal records  the  final  grades  for  each  week, 
after  collecting  the  cards  from  his  three  assist- 
ants. He  expects  to  substitute  the  card  sys- 
tem for  the  book  another  year,  using  the  same 
plan  of  record.  Below  is  given  the  plan  for 
keeping  the  records,  together  with  the  work 
of  one  boy  for  a  month :  — 

Leon  Noel's  Record  in  Book 


Week  ending 

Minutes 

Personal  care 

Leon  Noel 

February    2 

210 

100 

9 

210 

100 

16 

210 

97 

23 

210 

97 

ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    109 

Home  Work  Record  of 

Leon  Noel. 

For  week  ending  February  21,  1914. 


Sun. 

Mon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thur. 

Fri. 

Sat. 

Total 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

8.  Splitting  kind- 

15 

10 

10 

10 

10 

101 

65 

8.  Bringing  in  fuel 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

35 

11.  Washing 

13    Care  of  baby. 

14.  Care  of 

15 

20 

15 

15 

15 

15 

95 

15.  Running 

60 

120 

180 

x 

B.  Brushing  teeth 
C.  Sleeping  with 
open  windows 
D.  Going  to  bed  be- 
fore 9  o'clock 
E.  Attending 
Church  or 
Sunday 
School 

X 
X 
X 

30 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

X 

30 

Total  

65 

65 

35 

30 

30 

30 

150 

405 

I  certify  that  the  above  is  a  correct  record. 

(Signed)  MBS.  C.  D.  FRENCH, 

Signature  of  Parent  or  Guardian. 


110    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

A  comparison  of  Leon  Noel's  home  credit 
record  on  his  slip  with  the  record  in  the  prin- 
cipal's book  shows  that  while  he  has  405 
credits  on  the  former  he  is  credited  with  only 
the  required  210  on  the  record.  C.  C.  Cala- 
van,  the  principal,  expects  to  allow  a  holiday, 
or  grant  additional  credit  on  school  work 
another  year,  for  credits  above  the  half-hour 
a  day.  The  children  of  the  school  at  first 
insisted  on  making  an  hour's  work  the  mini- 
mum for  a  day's  credit,  but  Mr.  Calavan 
decided  to  start  conservatively.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  Leon  Noel  lost  three  points  in 
each  of  the  last  two  weeks  of  February.  This 
was  because  he  was  not  in  bed  before  nine 
every  evening.  Mr.  Calavan  says  he  is  going 
to  change  his  plan  along  this  line  next  year, 
granting  three  or  four  evenings  a  month  when 
a  child  may  be  in  bed  a  little  later  than  nine 
without  forfeiting  credits.  He  believes  that 
a  happy,  wholesome  evening,  spent  in  play 
with  companions,  has  a  very  valuable  place 
in  the  child's  development. 

Sunday-school  and  church  attendance  has 
become  popular  in  Algona  since  school  credit 
has  been  given  for  it.  The  little  daughter  in  a 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    111 

non-church-going  family  had  never  attended 
any  church  services  until  it  was  brought  out 
that  the  other  children  at  school  were  getting 
credit  for  such  attendance.  The  parents 
dressed  the  little  girl  for  Sunday  school,  and 
sent  her  off,  determined  that  their  child 
should  not  be  left  out  in  the  home  credit 
game. 

A  boy's  record  was  perfect,  except  that  he 
did  not  have  a  church  attendance  recorded. 
On  inquiry  the  principal  found  that  Albert's 
family  was  of  the  Seventh  Day  Adventist 
faith,  and  that  the  boy  was  at  church  as 
regularly  as  Saturday  came.  He  was  at  once 
given  credit.  The  children  of  the  Catholic 
faith  are  given  credit  for  attending  the 
catechism  class  that  meets  in  the  schoolhouse 
Tuesday  afternoons. 

"The  people  took  hold,"  said  Mr.  Calavan. 
"The  Parent-Teachers'  Association  is  enthu- 
siastic over  the  plan,  and  is  doing  all  possible 
to  help.  Two  decided  results  that  home 
credits  have  brought  about  are  that  we  have 
a  much  neater,  better-kept  class  of  pupils, 
and  our  boys  are  off  the  streets.  Several 
persons  have  remarked  to  me  that  the  school 


112    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

was  doing  something  with  the  boys,  surely, 
for  they  all  seemed  to  be  busy  after  school." 

The  system  introduced  in  Portland,  Oregon, 
schools,  is  the  daily  record  and  weekly  report 
plan.  The  following  suggestions  were  sent 
out  early  in  1914  by  the  Portland  office:  — 

Suggestions  for  using  the  "Home  Record  Slip" 

The  regular  monthly  report  card  should  contain 
two  extra  columns,  one  entitled  "Home  Work" 
and  one  "Personal  Care,"  and  in  these  columns 
the  pupil  should  be  marked  on  the  scale  of  100. 

One  hundred  per  cent  in  the  "Home  Work" 
column  would  be  secured  by  a  daily  record  of  not 
less  than  one  half -hour  of  approved  work  for  seven 
days  each  week. 

One  hundred  per  cent  in  the  "Personal  Care" 
column  would  be  secured  by  daily  practice  of 
numbers  A,  B,  C,  and  D  for  seven  days  of  the 
week,  and  for  attendance  upon  some  religious 
service.  Twenty  per  cent  could  be  allowed  for 
each  number  and  twenty  per  cent  for  attendance 
at  church  or  Sunday  school. 

The  matter  of  bathing  should  not  be  interpreted 
to  refer  strictly  to  tub  baths,  since  in  large  families 
daily  tub  baths  are  sometimes  impracticable,  and 
inability  to  make  a  good  showing  on  the  card 
would  have  a  tendency  to  discourage. 

Different  plans  of  reward  for  a  given  number  of 
minutes  devoted  to  work  during  a  week  are  out- 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    113 

lined  in  the  pamphlet,  "School  Industrial  Credit 
for  Home  Industrial  Work."  These,  however, 
may  be  modified  or  enlarged  to  suit.  All  time, 
including  the  half-hour  a  day  and  the  amount 
allowed  for  all  other  operations,  should  be  counted 
toward  a  specified  total  necessary  to  earn  the 
reward. 

These  rules  are  printed  on  the  back  of  each 
home  credit  record  card:  — 

Rules  governing  Credit  for  Home  Work 

Every  Friday  afternoon  a  home  work  record 
slip  will  be  given  to  each  pupil.  Beginning  with 
Sunday,  all  time  spent  by  the  pupil  in  home 
work  should  be  entered  in  the  proper  space. 

Each  Monday  morning  a  slip  filled  during  the 
previous  week  should  be  returned  to  the  teacher. 
The  slip  must  be  signed  by  the  parent  or  guardian 
as  an  assurance  that  a  correct  record  has  been  kept. 

Any  work  not  listed  but  of  value  to  the  parents 
may  be  counted,  and  the  nature  of  the  work  speci- 
fied in  the  blank  spaces. 

At  the  close  of  the  school  month,  when  the 
report  of  school  work  is  made  out,  in  the  column 
"Home  Work,"  the  pupil  will  be  marked  on  the 
scale  of  100  for  actual  work  of  not  less  than  one 
half -hour  each  day,  and  in  the  column  "Personal 
Care"  on  the  scale  of  100  for  numbers  A,  B,  C,  and 
D,  and  for  attendance  at  church  or  Sunday  school. 

In  addition  to  credit  on  the  report  card,  reward 
may  be  given  at  the  option  of  the  principal  for  a 
specified  amount  of  time  spent  in  useful  work  at 
home. 


114    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

For  purpose  of  reward  credit  of  five  minutes  a 
day  will  be  allowed  for  each  operation  listed  as 
A,  B,  C,  and  D,  and  twenty  minutes  for  attendance 
at  church  or  Sunday  school. 

The  Portland  home  work  record  slips  are 
printed  by  the  city  office,  and  furnished  to 
teachers  who  wish  to  use  them.  On  pages  115, 
117,  and  119  are  given  home  credit  records 
of  Portland  children,  showing  the  class  of 
home  work  they  are  doing.  A  swift  review 
of  a  child's  record  gives  the  teacher  a  pretty 
accurate  estimate  of  his  home  environment. 

Elsie  G.,  whose  card  is  shown,  has  kept 
weekly  records  of  her  work  for  more  than  a 
year.  She  and  some  of  the  other  girls  make  it 
a  practice  to  help  Miss  Wright,  their  teacher, 
enroll  the  records  for  the  class.  The  method  of 
crediting  is  extremely  simple,  but  it  seems  to 
work.  The  pupils  return  the  filled-out  slips  the 
first  of  every  week;  at  the  end  of  each  month 
the  girls  count  the  slips,  and  for  every  pupil 
who  has  brought  in  four  slips  they  register  one 
credit  in  the  book.  Miss  Wright  looks  over  the 
cards  as  they  come  in,  and  often  makes  com- 
ment on  the  work,  to  the  individual,  or  to  the 
class  as  a  whole. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    115 

Home  Work  Record  of 


For  week  ending  December  19,  1913. 


Sun. 

Mon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thur. 

Fri. 

Sat. 

Tnfol 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

2.  Splitting    kind- 

25 

15 

25 

25 

25 

20 

135 

1 

1  + 

3 

3 

2 

2 

20 

25 

15 

15 

15 

20 

200 

9    Dusting 

15 

15 

30 

10 

10 

15 

10 

20 

65 

11.  Washing     

13.  Care  of  baby... 

30 

60 

45 

60 

60 

45 

60 

360 

x 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

B.  Brushing  teeth  . 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

.  .  .  .  • 

C.  Sleeping  with 
open  windows 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

D.  Going  to  bed  be- 

fore 9  o'clock. 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 



E.  Attending 

Church  or 

Sunday 

School  

Total.  . 

790 

I  certify  that  the  above  is  a  correct  record. 
MBS.  G.  H.  G- 


Signature  of  Parent  or  Guardian. 


116    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Miss  Wright  began  this  home  credit  work 
by  taking  sixteen  of  the  printed  slips  and  lay- 
ing them  on  her  desk.  The  boys  left  the  room 
to  go  to  manual  training,  and  the  girls  then 
gathered  around  her  desk  and  discovered  the 
slips.  "What  are  these?"  they  inquired,  and 
they  each  wanted  one  to  take  home.  There 
were  just  enough  for  the  girls,  but  when  the 
boys  found  out  about  it  they  clamored  for 
slips,  too. 

Miss  Wright  now  leaves  a  pile  of  the  blanks 
on  her  desk  every  Friday,  and  most  of  the 
pupils  take  them.  They  used  to  ask  to  have 
the  credit  applied  to  raise  their  standings  on 
their  lowest  studies  (they  are  allowed,  for  in- 
stance, to  increase  a  mark  of  seven  in  grammar 
to  a  mark  of  eight  for  one  month),  but  now 
they  seldom  ask  for  the  increase.  They  do 
their  home  work  and  record  it  with  no  other 
incentive  than  the  satisfaction  of  having  a 
record  and  the  honor  and  approval  of  their 
parents,  teacher,  and  schoolmates. 

The  ten-year-old  boy  whose  card  is  shown 
here  goes  on  week-ends  to  the  country,  and 
brings  in  his  record  afterward  with  great  pride 
to  show  the  other  fellows  that  he  has  cared  for 
horses. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    117 


Home  Work  Record  of 


Henry  F.  P- 


For  week  ending ,  19. . . 


Sun. 

Mon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thur. 

Fri. 

Sat. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Total 

10 

10 

2.  Splitting    kind- 

10 

15 

10 

10 

20 

10 

10 

85 

3.  Bringing  in  fuel 

5 

5 

5 

5 

10 

15 

15 

60 

6.  Care  of  horses.. 

20 

10 

30 

6.  Preparing  meals 

7.  Washing  dishes. 

0.  Dusting  

10.  Bedroom  work. 

11.  Washing  

12.  Ironing  

13.  Care  of  baby.  .  . 

Feeding  chickens.  .  . 
Feeding  rabbits  .... 

A.  Bathing  

10 
10 

X 

S 
5 

X 

10 
15 

X 

10 
20 

x 

15 
15 

X 

10 
10 

X 

10 
10 

x 

70 

85 

B.  Brushing  teeth  . 
C.  Sleeping  with 
open  windows 
D.  Going  to  bed  be- 

2 

X 

2 

X 

2 

X 

2 

X 

2 

X 

2 

X 

2 

X 

E.  Attending 
Church  or 
Sunday 
School 

Total. 

340 

I  certify  that  the  above  is  a  correct  record. 
FLORA  H.  P — 
Signature  of  Parent  or  Guardian. 


118    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

We  find  many  instances,  like  the  following, 
where  boys  who  at  first  had  nothing  to  do, 
seemingly,  but  to  get  in  the  fuel,  have  begun 
to  assist  their  mothers  with  the  dishwashing, 
dusting,  and  cooking.  Not  only  does  this 
work  run  up  their  list  of  credits  at  school, 
but  it  causes  them  to  appreciate  what  mother 
has  to  do,  gets  them  acquainted  with  their 
homes,  and  keeps  them  off  the  streets. 

And  it  has  other  uses  for  a  boy.  Henry 
Turner  Bailey  says :  — 

Away  from  home,  as  lonely  art  student  and 
young  teacher  in  strange  and  home-sickening 
boarding  houses,  maybe  I  was  n't  thankful  to  be 
able  to  sweep  and  dust,  to  wash  and  iron  and  cook, 
upon  occasion,  to  sew  on  buttons,  to  darn,  and  to 
mend.  But  perhaps  my  keenest  satisfaction  came 
from  my  ability  to  make  a  bed.  The  boarding- 
house  madonnas  are  not,  as  a  rule,  highly  skilled 
in  that  gentle  art. 

In  view  of  my  personal  experiences  I  have  often 
wondered  why  the  advocates  of  Domestic  Science 
are  not  more  strongly  co-educational.  What  is 
sauce  for  the  goose  seems  to  me  worthy  to  be  sauce 
for  the  gander,  —  certainly  during  the  gosling 
stage.  Every  boy  should  know  how  to  sew,  just  as 
every  girl  should  know  how  to  whittle.  Every  boy 
should  know  how  to  cook,  just  as  every  girl  should 
know  how  to  swim.  Skill  in  the  elemental  arts  is  a 
form  of  what  Henderson  calls  human  wealth.  All 
should  participate.1 

1  School  Arts  Magazine,  May,  1914. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    119 


Harold  R- 


Home  Work  Record  of 


For  week  ending  December  20,  1913. 


Sun. 

Mon. 

Tues. 

Wed. 

Thur. 

Fri. 

Sat. 

Total 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

Min. 

1.  Work  in  garden 
2.  Splitting    kind- 
lings   

5 
10 

10 

25 

15 
15 

10 
10 

5 
5 

15 
25 

60 
05 

3.  Bringing  in  fuel 
4.  Milking  cow  .  .  . 

5 

6.  Preparing  meals 
7.  Washing  dishes 
8.  Sweeping.  .  .  . 

15 

5 

15 
10 
10 
10 
10 

30 
60 
10 
10 
10 

10 

10 

10 

15 

10.  Bedroom  work. 
11    Washing 

B.  Brushing  teeth 
C.  Sleeping  with 
open  windows 
D.  Going  to  bed  be- 
fore 9  o'clock 
E.  Attending 
Church  or 
Sunday 
School  

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

30 
7 
6 

1 

Total  

23 

17 

52 

67 

37 

32 

101 

310 

I  certify  that  the  above  is  a  correct  record. 

MRS.  P.  M.  R. , 

Signature  of  Parent  or  Guwdian. 


120    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

A  Portland  woman,  who  is  much  interested 
in  the  schools,  says :  — 

In  looking  over  some  of  the  cards  I  find  that  the 
child  soon  learns  to  do  his  "chores"  in  less  time 
each  week,  that  he  may  have  more  time  for  other 
work  or  play,  and  yet  fill  out  his  record  card.  This 
is  a  great  help  to  the  parents. 

I  know  one  boy  who  cannot  be  induced  to  go 
out  to  an  evening  aif  air  because  he  wants  to  get  to 
bed  before  nine  o'clock  so  that  his  record  card  will 
be  perfect.  How  soon  could  we  dismiss  the  Juve- 
nile Court  if  we  could  get  all  children  to  feel  like 
that!  It  is  worth  while  to  try. 

In  Polk  County,  Oregon,  the  system  has 
been  introduced  into  rural  schools  with 
marked  success.  The  plan  here  comprises  a 
daily  record,  and  monthly  reports.  Below  are 
excerpts  from  an  article  written  for  the 
Oregon  Teachers'  Monthly,  by  Mr.  R.  G. 
Dykstra,  who  used  home  credits  in  his  rural 
school  at  Suver,  Polk  County,  in  1912-13. 
I  should  like  to  direct  especial  attention  to  his 
testimony  on  the  tardiness  record  of  the  dis- 
trict; also  to  his  plan  of  allowing  credit  for  a 
long  walk  to  school. 

With  the  following  exceptions  I  carried  out  the 
work  as  started  in  the  Spring  Valley  School  last 
year:  I  required  the  pupils  to  get  eight  hundred 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    121 

minutes' credit  before  taking  the  holiday  instead 
of  six  hundred;  the  number  of  minutes'  credit  for 
milking  cows  was  increased  from  five  to  fifteen  for 
each  cow  and  a  reasonable  amount  of  credit  was 
allowed  for  all  work  not  named  in  the  list  of  chores; 
children  living  over  a  mile  and  a  half  from  school 
were  allowed  credit  for  the  distance  they  had  to 
walk  in  proportion  to  the  others,  and  5  per  cent 
instead  of  10  was  added  to  the  end  of  the  year  on 
their  final  school  averages  for  the  carrying  on  of 
the  work.  Only  two  prizes  were  offered  by  the 
District,  three  dollars  and  two  dollars  respectively. 
Children  seldom  took  advantage  of  the  holiday 
given  for  eight  hundred  minutes'  credit  unless  it 
was  used  for  sickness  or  unavoidable  absence,  as 
they  were  encouraged  in  the  knowledge  that  a 
day  lost  was  a  day's  work  lost  as  well.  Tardiness 
on  the  part  of  any  pupil  doing  the  work  meant  a 
loss  of  so  many  credits  already  accumulated. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  the  many 
things  this  work  has  done  for  this  community, 
but  the  following  facts  may  prove  interesting  to 
the  reader.  During  the  year  of  1911-12,  without 
home  credit  work,  this  school  had  a  record  of  95 
per  cent  in  attendance  and  59  tardies.  For  the 
year  1912-13  just  closed,  the  record  is  98  per  cent 
in  attendance  and  8  tardies.  Part  of  the  home 
credits  given  have  been  for  proper  care  of  body, 
sleeping  with  windows  open,  care  of  teeth,  hair, 
etc.,  and  the  result  of  these  requirements  has  been 
the  showing  of  a  healthier  appearance  on  the  part 
of  nearly  all  the  pupils.  The  parents  of  the  district 
claim  that  the  children  are  doing  more  work  at 
home  than  they  ever  did  before,  and  the  people 


122    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

feel  that  their  children  are  getting  an  education 
that  will  be  of  value  to  them  and  that  the  money 
is  being  well  spent  in  this  kind  of  work. 

The  card  issued  by  County  Superintendent 
Seymour  is  here  reproduced  filled  out  by  a 
pupil.  It  shows  daily  records  for  two  weeks 
on  each  side  of  the  card.  The  five  school  days 
only  are  counted. 


Home  Credit  Card 

North  Dallas  School,  Polk  County,  Oregon. 

Blanks  to  be  filled  in  each  day.  Parents  sign  before  return- 
ing it  to  teacher.  Blanks  to  be  returned  each  month  and  a 
new  one  secured. 


Edwin  B 

Pupil's  name. 


February  1,  1914. 

Month. 


M. 

T. 

w. 

T. 

F. 

Total 

M. 

T. 

W. 

T. 

F. 

Total 

Milking    each    cow 

Cleaning  barn,  each 

9r, 

2"l 

25 

• 

25 

125 

05 

4o 

45 

4o 

45 

205 

Carrying  wood  10 

211 

" 

20 

20 

20 

100 

20 

20 

20 

. 

20 

100 

Cleanin    M  arator       5 

Churning  butter  30 

30 

M 

60 

.... 

Feeding  chickens  5 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

50 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

50 

20 

"0 

"0 

m 

"0 

100 

"0 

°0 

20 

20 

20 

100 

Feeding  horse  5 

15 

15 

15 

45 

15 

15 

20 

15 

15 

80 

ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    123 

Home  Credit  Card  —  continued 


M. 

T. 

w. 

T. 

F. 

Total 

M. 

T. 

w. 

T. 

F. 

Total 

?S 

?f> 

11 

75 

25 

H 

11 

U 

15 

95 

Making  bread  10 

Washing  dishes  20 

Sweeping  floor,  each 

10 

Cleaning  house,  each 

Scrubbing  floor,  each 

Bathing                 ....SO 

Arrive  at  school  clean  5 

5 

6 

5 

6 

5 

25 

5 

6 

5 

1 

5 

25 

10 

in 

10 

10 

10 

£0 

10 

10 

10 

1(1 

10 

50 

5 

', 

5 

f: 

A 

25 

B 

-, 

I 

I 

I 

25 

•t 

1 

8 

3 

8 

16 

3 

8 

8 

8 

?, 

15 

Cleaning  finger  nails  5 
Sleeping   with  win- 

6 
t 

6 

r< 

5 
'  A 

6 

A 

S 
1 

25 

25 

5 
t> 

5 

.'< 

5 

5 

1 

5 

1 

A 

25 
25 

Cleaning  and  filling 

Errands  5 

10 

.... 

10 

1 

5 

Distance  school,  over 
half-mile  .'. 

.', 

1 

5 

1 

5 

25 

5 

a 

5 

5 

5 

25 

Total  

1'W 

1",S 

1'tt 

T'S 

m 

755 

15ft 

us 

17.S 

UN! 

KM 

825 

Teacher  and  pupils  to  go  over  list  and  agree  on  time  for  each  thing. 
Distance  from  school  more  than  one-half  mile  to  be  given  credit  for 
Any  work  not  listed  that  is  creditable  teacher  will  give  credit  for. 


MR.  AND  MRS.  W.  H.  B , 

Signature  of  Parents. 


124    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

The  card  given  on  pages  122  and  123  came 
from  Miss  Veva  Burns,  the  teacher  at  North 
Dallas,  with  the  following  letter,  dated  April 
26,  1914:- 

I  am  pleased  to  explain  the  home  credit  system 
as  we  use  it.  I  am  sending  some  of  the  cards  filled 
out  by  the  pupils.  We  secure  these  cards  from  Mr. 
Seymour,  the  county  school  superintendent,  and 
are  allowed  to  use  them  as  we  think  best.  .  .  . 

We  have  a  two-room  school,  and  have  divided 
it  into  two  divisions,  the  smaller  pupils  having 
five  thousand  credits  as  their  aim,  while  the  larger 
ones  work  for  ten  thousand.  Of  course  the  number 
to  be  obtained  would  vary  with  the  opportunity 
the  children  would  have  to  earn  credits.  On  the 
average,  it  takes  our  pupils  about  three  months 
to  earn  the  required  number.  When  they  have 
secured  the  number,  some  prize,  such  as  a  book,  is 
given,  and  they  are  allowed  to  start  again.  Then, 
at  the  end  of  school,  the  one  who  has  earned  the 
most  is  given  a  special  prize.  Also,  Mr.  Seymour 
allows  us  to  give  ten  points  on  each  child's  lowest 
grade,  at  the  close  of  school,  if  he  has  kept  up  his 
home  credit  work  during  the  school  year.  Some 
teachers  give  a  holiday  as  a  reward  instead  of  a 
prize. 

The  cards  are  taken  home  by  the  pupils  and 
filled  out  each  evening.  If  the  pupils  are  too  small 
to  attend  to  the  cards,  some  member  of  the  family 
looks  after  them.  We  see  to  it  that  the  system  is 
thoroughly  understood  by  each  family.  As  each 
card  is  filled  out,  it  is  returned  to  us. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    125 

We  have  a  school  of  over  sixty  pupils,  and  all 
but  four  are  working  on  the  credit  system.  We  did 
not  urge  any  one  to  take  it  up,  but  allowed  them 
to  decide  for  themselves. 

This  letter  is  from  Miss  Miriam  H.  Rarey, 
who  has  taught  near  Dallas,  in  1914 :  — 

Work  done  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays  does  not 
count  with  the  exception  of  bathing.  Pupils,  as  a 
rule,  when  they  bathe  at  all,  bathe  on  Saturday. 
So  I  told  them  they  could  take  thirty  minutes' 
credit  for  that,  and  put  it  down  in  Friday's  space, 
in  the  hope  that  it  would  induce  them  to  bathe 
at  least  once  a  week.  It  worked  pretty  well  with 
some  of  the  pupils,  but  others  would  rather  do 
without  the  credits  than  do  anything  so  unusual. 
When  a  pupil  gets  five  thousand  credits  (every 
minute  counts  one  credit)  he  gets  his  grade  on  his 
poorest  study  raised  5  per  cent,  or  if  he  does  not 
need  that,  he  gets  a  holiday  without  being  marked 
absent.  The  pupils  have  all  worked  pretty  hard 
for  credits,  and  only  a  few  have  asked  for  holidays. 
The  people  in  the  district  have  all  been  pleased 
with  the  results  of  home  credit  and  I  think  it  is  a 
good  thing.  I  have  seventeen  pupils,  and  they 
are  all  using  home  credits. 

The  Idaho  plan  as  sent  out  by  the  State 
Superintendent,  Miss  Grace  M.  Shepherd, 
in  a  bulletin  to  teachers  is  as  follows:  Miss 
Shepherd  issued  two.  mimeographed  sheets, 
one  of  rules,  and  one  a  list  of  credits.  The 


126    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

blank  has  a  place  for  a  daily  record  and  a 
report  for  several  weeks. 

Rules  governing  Home  Work 

1.  No  pupil  is  obliged  to  enter  the  contest. 

2.  Parent  must  sign  statement  of  work  done  by 
pupil. 

3.  Contest  closes  when  school  term  closes. 

4.  Unexcused  absence  forfeits  all  credits.    Un- 
excused  tardiness  forfeits  25  per  cent  of  cred- 
its per  month.  Less  than  90  per  cent  deport- 
ment, 20  per  cent  of  all  credits  forfeited. 

5.  Suggested  awards: 

Names  of  the  six  highest  at  the  close  of 
school  will  be  published  in  a  county  paper. 

Three  highest  at  the  close  of  school  to  be 
offered  prize  by  the  School  Board  or  some 
citizen. 

Five  per  cent  credit  to  be  added  to  final 
examination  results  of  all  pupils  who  enter 
and  continue  in  the  contest. 

Urge  the  hearty  cooperation  of  the  parents. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS       127 


Record  of  Home  Credit  Work 

Month  beginning Ending 

School         Bounty 

Pupils  or  parents  will  fill  in  the  following  blanks  each  day  and  re- 
turn to  tJie  teacher  each  month  signed  by  the  parent. 


M. 

T. 

W. 

T. 

F. 

M. 

T. 

W. 

T. 

F. 

M. 

T. 

W. 

T. 

F. 

Hieing  morning  with- 
out being  called.  .  .  .10  m. 

Building  fire  in  morn- 
ing    15m. 

Milking  10m. 

Cleaning  born  10m. 

Cleaning  each  horse   5  m. 

Feeding  horses  5m. 

Feeding  chickens  5m. 

Feeding  cows  5m. 

Bringing  fuel  for  the 

Getting  breakfast  30  m. 

Washing  and  wiping 
dishea  15  m. 

Sweeping  floor  5m. 

Making  beds  5m. 

Making   and   baking 
bread  45  m. 

Carine    for   younger 

Washing  and  ironing 
school  clothes  60  m. 

Bathiag  20m. 

Cleaning  teeth    and 
finger  nails  10  m. 

Bed  at  9:00  P.M  5m. 

Sleeping    with    win- 
dow open  10m. 

Total  

Signature  of  parent. 


128    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

In  Charleston,  Washington,  Superintend- 
ent H.  W.  Elliott,  of  the  city  schools,  put  into 
successful  operation,  in  1913-14,  a  plan  with 
several  special  features,  to  which  I  am  glad 
to  call  attention.  The  plan  comprises  daily 
markings  by  the  tally  system,  monthly 
reports,  cash  prizes  to  those  showing  the 
largest  number  of  home  credits,  and  some 
reward  to  every  pupil  with  credits  above  a 
certain  specified  number.  For  the  purpose  of 
raising  a  fund  to  meet  the  cash  prizes,  his 
school  gave  a  play;  and  an  autumn  fair,  in 
October,  was  arranged  for  the  distribution  of 
the  prizes  for  both  school  and  home  work. 
The  credit  card  is  different  from  any  other; 
it  seems  to  be  the  most  simple  of  all  the 
monthly  systems. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    129 


How  to  Keep  the  Credits  in  the  Home 

For  every  duty  the  child  has  done  put  down  \  after  the  name  of  the  duty  the 
child  has  performed.    Example: 

Cutting  wood  UH"1  Uf-H  UH"1   I 

Taking  bath  L-H~1   W"fl  I   I  TM*  **  to  indicate  the  number  of  times. 


ALL  THAT  ARE  5  CREDITS 

Canning  jar  of  fruit 

Making  and  baking  cake 

Making  and  baking  pie 

Sweeping  room 

Making  bed 

Setting  table 

Dusting  furniture 

Making  handkerchief 

Making  any  other  thing 

Keeping  room  ventilated 

Splitting  kindling 

Cutting  wood 

Bringing  in  fuel 

Blacking  stove 

Scrubbing  room 

Running  errands. 

Taking  care  of  birds 

Was h ing  teeth 

Taking  bath 

In  bed  by  nine 

Up  by  seven 

Helping  others  dress 

Brushing  clothes  (self) 

Polishing  shoes  (self) 

Feeding  cow  or  other  animal 

Gathering  eggs, 

At  school  with  clean 

Hands 

Face 

Teeth 

Nails 

Hair  combed 


ALL  THAT  ARE  10  CREDITS 

Music  practice  (30  min.) 

Milking  cow 

Crocheting  (hour) 

Cleaning  basement 

Making  apron 

Keeping  front  yard  clean 

Keeping  back  yard  clean 

Keeping  sidewalk  clean 

Keeping  alley  clean 

Keeping  steps  and  porch  clean 

Politeness  to  seniors 

Table  etiquette 

ALL  THAT  ARE  IS  CREDITS 

Up  first  and  building  fire 

Sprinkling  lawn  (1  h.) 

Clerking  in  store  (1  h.) 

Driving  team  (1  h.) 

Helping  with  freight  (1  h.) 

Making  and  baking  bread 

Attending  Sunday  school 

Attending  Church  service 


ALL  THAT  ARE  80  CREDITS 

Washing  clothes  (2  h.) 

Ironing  clothes  (2  h.) 

Taking  care  of  baby  (2  h.) 

Preparing  meal  (family) 

Cleaning  barn 

Cleaning  henhouse 

Carry  ing  papers 


ALL  THAT  ARE  40  CREDITS 

Making  dress  (self) 

Cutting  half  rick  of  wood 

Spading  up  400  sq.  ft.  garden 


Total. 


Send  in  report  on  or  before  the  10th  of  each  month. 


130    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Mr.  Elliott  sent  out  a  mimeographed  sheet 
explaining  the  rules  to  be  observed  in  the  con- 
test, giving  a  list  of  the  credits,  and  also  a 
list  of  the  articles  to  be  exhibited  at  the  fair. 
The  rules,  and  the  list  of  articles  are  given 
here. 

Rules 

All  boys  and  girls  now  in  one  of  the  eight  grades 
of  the  Charleston  public  schools,  District  No.  34, 
may  enter  in  one  of  the  four  classes;  D,  first  grade; 
C,  2d  and  3d;  B,  4th  and  5th;  A,  6th,  7th,  and  8th. 
Home  credits  for  each  month  must  be  reported 
to  the  school  for  record  on  or  before  the  10th  of 
each  month.  Records  to  be  confidential.  We  hope 
that  every  home  will  enter  into  this,  and  that  the 
parent  will  be  very  careful  and  conscientious  in  the 
marking.  Credits  to  be  kept  by  parents. 

A  List  of  Articles  to  be  exhibited 

For  School  Fair  Exhibit  —  To   be  determined 
by  Judges 

Household  Economics  — 

1.  Domestic  Science:  Best  loaf  of  bread,  cake, 
pie,  dozen  cookies,  dozen  doughnuts. 

2.  Domestic  Art:  Best  made  plain  dress,  plain 
apron,  shirt-waist,  sofa  pillow,  handkerchief, 
patchwork    pillow,    darning    or    repairing 
specimen. 

3.  Canning:  Peas,  peaches,  apples,  pears,  cher- 
ries, string  beans. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    131 

Agriculture  — 

Best  5  ears  of  corn,  5  potatoes,  5  selected  apples, 
5  carrots,  5  onions,  5  turnips,  squash,  pump- 
kin, raised  by  pupil. 

Horticulture  — 

Nasturtiums,  pansies,  sweet  peas,  each  10 
sprays;  asters,  dahlias,  chrysanthemums, 
each  5  sprays  —  raised  by  pupil.  Best  5 
roses  cared  for  by  pupil. 

Poultry  — 

Best  cockerel,  or  pullet,  or  cockerel  and  pullet 
reared  from  a  setting  of  15  eggs. 

Manual  Training  — 

Best  mechanical  drawing,  joined  work,  tabouret, 
small  piece  of  furniture,  large  piece  of  furni- 
ture, basket,  bookbinding,  etc. 

School  Work  — 

What  teachers  see  fit  to  make  it  —  drawing,  etc. 
Music  — 

Best  played  selection  on  piano,  violin,  cornet,  or 
other  instrument :  or  orchestra  or  band :  solo 
singing  or  chorus.  In  band  or  orchestra  work 
pupils  may  be  judged  collectively  or  singly. 
Same  judgment  for  all  chorus  work. 
Something  more  may  be  added  later. 
Yours  for  a  good  fair, 

THE  TEACHERS. 

H.  W.  ELLIOTT, 

City  Superintendent. 

Mr.    Elliott   writes:    "I   believe   there   is 
nothing  that  will  link  the  home  and  school 


132    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

more  closely  than  the  system  of  credits. 
There  is  one  danger,  however,  of  cultivating 
dishonesty  on  the  part  of  the  over-anxious 
one.  This  we  watch,  but  this  tendency  is 
sometimes  noticeable.  Occasionally  we  find 
a  youngster  attending  Sunday  school  or 
church  fifteen  or  twenty  times  a  month." 

Examples  of  the  scheme  of  a  weekly  record 
with  monthly  report  are  plans  in  operation 
in  Jackson  County,  and  in  Weston,  Umatilla 
County,  Oregon.  The  rules  and  schedule  fol- 
lowing were  published  by  Mr.  J.  Percy  Wells, 
county  superintendent  of  Jackson  County. 

Rules  governing  Home  Credit  Work 

1.  No  pupil  shall  be  required  to  enter  the  home 
credit  contest,  and  any  pupil  shall  be  free  to 
quit  the  contest  at  any  time,  but  if  any  one 
quits  without  good  cause,  all  credits  earned 
shall  be  forfeited. 

2.  Once  each  month  the  parent  or  guardian  shall 
send  to  the  teacher,  with  signature  affixed, 
an  itemized  statement  containing  a  record  of 
the  work  each  child  has  done  during  the  pre- 
ceding month.   The  child  may  make  out  the 
list,  but  the  parent  or  guardian  must  sign 
the  same. 

3.  At  the  end  of  each  school  month  the  teacher 
shall  enter  on  the  pupil's  report  card  the 
total  number  of  credits  for  home  work  during 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    133 

the  month,  as  certified  to  by  the  parent  or 
guardian. 

4.  Any  pupil  who  has  earned  at  least  two  hun- 
dred credits  for  home  work  during  any  school 
month  shall  be  entitled  to  have  10  per  cent 
added  to  his  grade  in  any  subject,  or  distrib- 
uted among  several  subjects,  and  1  per  cent 
additional  for  each  twenty  additional  credits 
up  to  four  hundred  credits. 

5.  All  pupils  who  shall  have  earned  four  hun- 
dred credits  or  more  during  any  month  shall 
be  entitled  to  a  half-holiday,  and  shall  have 
their  names  entered  on  a  roll  of  honor. 

6.  Forfeitures  —  Dropping  out  of  contest  with- 
out  cause,    all   credits    earned;    unexcused 
absence,  all  credits  due;  unexcused  tardiness, 
25  per  cent  off  all  credits  due;  less  than  90 
per  cent  in  deportment  for  any  month,  10 
per  cent  off  all  credits  due. 

These  rules  may  be  modified  by  teachers 
to  suit  local  conditions.  If  the  half-holiday 
system  of  awards  is  not  satisfactory,  some 
other  system  may  be  substituted. 

To  parents  and  guardians: 

In  this  plan  for  giving  school  credit  for 
home  work  it  is  not  the  intention  of  the 
school  to  intrude  upon  the  domain  of  the 
home,  but  to  cooperate  with  the  home  in  the 
interest  of  the  boys  and  girls.  Here  is  a  splen- 
did chance  for  the  school  and  the  home  to 
come  closer  together,  and  we  believe  both 
be  will  improved  thereby. 


134    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Home  Credit  Schedule,  School  District  No.  2 
Jackson  County,  Oregon 


Name  of  Pupil,  Goldie  Trefren.        Age,  11. 
Month  ending  March  S3,  1914. 


Grade,  4th. 


Cred- 
its 

1st 
week 

2d 
week 

3d 
week 

4th 
week 

Total 

*1 

7 

6 

7 

7 

27 

1 

16 

15 

12 

8 

50 

Splitting  and  carrying  in  wood  (12  hours' 

2 

2 

2 

1 

6 

7 

5 

4 

22 

1 

12 

12 

11 

12 

47 

3 

8 

10 

2 

6 

2 

2 

2 

2 

| 

4 

1 

12 

•  12 

12 

14 

50 

1 

4 

6 

2 

11 

4 

2 

2 

2 

2 

8 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

g 

Washing,  starching,  and  ironing  own  clothes, 

30 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

16 

Arriving  at  school  with  clean  hands,  face, 

2 

5 

( 

5 

{ 

20 

2 

1 

7 

7 

7 

_ 

28 

2 

Sleeping  with  windows  open  or  with  window- 

2 

7 

7 

7 

7 

28 

Woiknot  listed,  per  hour  

6 

8 

6 

5 

4 

23 

Total  



364 

L.  S.  TEEFRENj 

Parent  or  Guardian 


*  A  talk  counting  1  done  once  each  day,  gives  seven  credits  for  the  week. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    135 

The  following  letter,  dated  April  20,  1914, 
is  from  Mrs.  Bertha  McKinney,  of  a  district 
near  Ashland,  Jackson  County. 

Pupils.of  the  first,  second,  and  third  grades,  who 
have  earned  two  hundred  credits  in  a  month  have 
a  half -holiday.  Those  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth 
grades  must  have  earned  three  hundred  credits  to 
entitle  them  to  the  half -holiday,  and  of  the  seventh, 
eighth,  and  ninth  grades,  four  hundred  credits. 
When  all  have  the  required  number  of  credits,  all 
have  the  half-holiday.  I  have  twenty  pupils,  and 
all  are  doing  the  home  credit  work.  I  keep  the 
record  of  the  credits  earned  in  a  notebook,  and 
place  the  number  earned  by  each  pupil  on  the 
monthly  report  card.  I  think  the  plan  a  good  one, 
though  in  a  few  cases  the  parents  are  not  careful 
enough  with  their  part;  that  is,  they  sign  the 
blank  form,  then  the  child  can  put  down  any 
number  he  pleases.  I  have  had  only  one  such  case. 

Superintendent  Joel  O.  Davis,  of  Weston, 
tells  of  the  manner  in  which  his  school  began 
to  use  home  credits :  — 

The  opportunity  came  in  October  of  last  year, 
when  an  unexpected  influx  of  pupils  made  it 
necessary  for  us  to  engage  an  extra  teacher  and 
adopt  a  departmental  plan  for  the  fifth  to  eighth 
grades  inclusive.  This  made  it  necessary  for  those 
grades  to  prepare  two  lessons  at  home,  thus  mak- 
ing the  required  home  reading  a  burden.  I  at  once 
offered  these  students  the  choice  of  reading  the 
required  books,  and  writing  the  reviews,  or  toaking 


136    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

the  points  by  home  work,  under  the  conditions 
as  shown  by  the  accompanying  card.  Nearly  every 
child  accepted  the  home  work  plan,  and  went  to 
work  enthusiastically. 

On  the  opposite  page  is  one  of  the  Weston 
credit  cards,  filled  out  by  a  pupil,  Crete 
Allen:  — 

Home  Work  Record,  Weston  Public  School 

Credits  will  be  given  for  the  performance  of  the  following 
named  duties  when  this  card  is  returned,  at  the  end  of  the 
month,  properly  signed  by  the  parent  or  guardian. 

These  credits  will  be  accepted  in  place  of  the  home  reading 
heretofore  required,  at  the  rate  of  100  points  for  each  book. 

The  parent  must  check  the  work  each  day  as  performed. 

Any  evasion  or  falsification  of  the  record  will  forfeit  all  claim 
to  credit. 

To  obtain  credit  each  duty  must  be  performed  by  the  child 
unaided  by  others,  and  must  be  well  and  satisfactorily  done. 

No  credit  will  be  given  for  work  that  is  paid  for  by  the 
parent  or  others. 

Parents  are  requested  to  see  that  the  above  conditions  are 
complied  with  and  to  encourage  thoroughness  and  truthful- 
ness by  using  care  in  recording  so  as  to  give  no  unearned 
credits. 

Make  one  mark,  and  only  one,  for  each  duty  each  day.1 

1  All  the  marking  is  done  by  tallies,  thus:.yf|  Jjfl  Uf|  ||||.  The 
reproduction  on  page  137  permits  only  the  use  of  figures,  to 
indicate,  the  total  tally  marks. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    137 


1st 
week 

2d 
week 

3d 
week 

4th 
week 

Total 

1 

1 

2 

2.  Feeding  horse   

14 

14 

14 

14 

56 

5 

3 

14 

14 

36 

5.  Feeding  chickens  

1 

3 

4 

6.  Milking  cow  

42 

36 

43 

39 

160 

7 

3 

6 

6 

22 

1 

1 

2 

1 

3 

10.  Making  bed  

2 

2 

4 

11.  Sweeping  room  

3 

6 

8 

12.  Setting  table  

8 

5 

4 

2 

19 

13    Clearing  table  

1 

1 

1 

s 

14.  Tidiness  

7 

7 

5 

6 

25 

15.  Brushing  teeth  

5 

2 

2 

4 

13 

6 

| 

2 

4 

14 

Total  

370 

No.  14  includes  general  tidiness,  hanging  hat  and  coat,  put- 
ting away  clothes,  shoes,  stockings,  etc.,  and  will  be  given 
more  credit  than  any  other  one  duty.  Parents  should  use  care 
in  marking  this  number,  as  the  aim  is  to  inculcate  habits  of 
neatness  and  thoughtful  consideration  of  others.  This  end 
can  easily  be  defeated  by  careless  or  unfair  marking. 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  above  record  is  true  and  correct. 
MRS.  J.  E.  ALLEN  (Parent  or  Guardian.) 

At  the  close  of  a  later  letter  Mr.  Davis 
wrote :  — 

From  my  experience  with  this  experiment  I  feel 
that  the  plan  is  worth  all  it  costs  and  more,  that  it 


138    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

should  be  extended  to  include  all  the  grades,  that 
modifications  to  meet  the  needs  of  different  com- 
munities can  easily  be  made,  and  that  the  pupils 
and  patrons  of  any  district  will  appreciate  and 
support  some  such  plan  if  it  is  carried  out  faith- 
fully. I  kept  a  ledger  account  with  every  child, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  month  posted  a  bulletin 
exhibiting  the  condition  of  each  pupil's  account. 
The  interest  was  shown  by  the  manner  in  which 
they  gathered  about  the  board  and  compared  their 
credits.  Some  of  the  comments  upon  some  lazy 
boy's  or  girl's  lack  of  effort  were  rather  caustic, 
but  served  as  effective  spurs  to  the  delinquent. 

In  Pend  Oreille  County,  Washington,  six 
weeks  is  the  unit  of  time  for  credit  records. 
Miss  Hester  C.  Soules,  the  County  Superin- 
tendent, has  issued  the  following  circular:  — 

THE  HOME    WE  WORK  TOGETHER    THE  SCHOOL 
SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

In  order  that  the  school  and  home  may  unite 
forces,  that  the  school  may  help  in  establishing 
habits  of  home-making,  and  that  our  boys  and 
girls  may  be  taught  that  their  parents  are  their 
best  friends  and  need  their  help,  the  following 
system  of  credits  has  been  devised  for  use  in  the 
schools  of  Pend  Oreille  County. 

Certificate  of  Promotion  with  Distinction 

Any  pupil  who  has  completed  the  work  of  his 
grade  in  a  satisfactory  manner  is  entitled  to 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    139 

PROMOTION  WITH  CREDIT  to  the  next  higher  grade, 
provided  he  obtains  300  points  for  Home  Work. 
He  is  entitled  to  PROMOTION  WITH  HONOR  if  he 
earns  500  points. 

Six  weeks'  faithful  and  regular  performance  of 
the  home  duties  listed  below  will  entitle  the  pupil 
to  credit  as  indicated. 

Points 

1.  Sawing,  splitting,  and  carrying  in  wood  and 
kindling 25 

2.  Building  fires  or  tending  furnace 20 

3.  Caring  for  horse  or  cow  and  doing  other  barn 
chores 15 

4.  Caring  for  poultry  and  gathering  eggs 10 

5.  Working  in  the  school  or  home  garden,  or  on  the 
farm 20 

6.  Delivering  milk  or  carrying  water 20 

7.  Running  errands  cheerfully 10 

8.  Doing  without  being  told 20 

9.  Mowing  the  lawn 20 

10.  Feeding  pigs 10 

11.  Making  a  bird-house  and  feeding  the  birds 20 

12.  Making  useful  piece  of  woodwork  for  the  home.  25 

13.  Cleaning  barn 20 

14.  Churning 15 

15.  Turning  Cream  Separator 10 

16.  Retiring  at  nine  o'clock  or  before 10 

17.  Bathing  at  least  twice  each  week 15 

18.  Sleeping  in  fresh  air 15 

19.  Getting    up  in    the   morning  without  being 
called 10 

20.  Preparing  one  meal  alone  daily  for  the  family.  25 

21.  Blacking  stove 10 

22.  Helping  with  the  breakfast,  and  with  the  dishes 
after  breakfast 15 

23.  Preparing  smaller  children  for  school 10 


140    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

24.  Not  being  tardy 10 

25.  Cleaning  teeth  daily 20 

26.  Making  own  graduating  dress  —  Eighth  Grade  80 

27.  Writing  weekly  letter  to  some  absent  relative 

—  Grandmother  preferred 20 

28.  Reading    and    reporting    on    one    approved 
library  book 20 

29.  Reading  aloud  fifteen  minutes  or  longer  each 
night  to  some  member  or  members  of  the  family 
circle 20 

80.  Practicing  music  lesson  thirty  minutes  daily . .  25 

31.  Building  fence,  10  rods 20 

Fence  may  be  built  at  intervals  during  any  one  period  of  six  weeks. 

32.  Clearing  \  Acre  of  land 30 

Land   may  be  cleared  any  time  during   the    school   year  and  at 
different  times  provided  the  J  A.  is  completed  before  school  closes. 

33.  Care  of  younger  children 20 

34.  Raising  one  fourth  acre  of  vegetables 20 

35.  Taking  sole  care  of  plants  and  flowers 15 

36.  Sweeping  floor  and  dusting  furniture 10 

37.  Making  beds 10 

38.  Mopping  and  caring  for  kitchen 10 

39.  Scouring  and  cleaning  bath  tub  and  lavatory  .  15 

40.  Helping  with  the  washing 20 

41.  Sprinkling  and  ironing  clothes 25 

42.  Making  and  baking  bread,  biscuits  or  cake. 
Exhibit 25 

43.  Setting  table  and  serving 15 

44.  Helping  cook  supper  and  helping  do  the  dishes 
after  supper 20 

45.  Doing  own  mending 20 

46.  Learning  to  knit  or  crochet 15 

47.  Raising  six  varieties  of  flowers 15 

48.  Making  piece  of  hand- work  for  the  home 25 

Total.-  .   840 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    141 

Certificate  of  Promotion  with  Distinction 

having  completed  the  work  of 


the  —     —  Grade  in  the  Fend  Oreille  County  Schools,  in 

a  satisfactory  manner,  and  having  earned points 

in  our  Home  and  Outside  Industrial  Work  Plan,  is 

hereby  promoted  to  the Grade  with  — 

and  is  commended  for  Industry,  Fidelity  to 

Home  and  Cheerful  Helpfulness. 

Given  at  Newport,  Washington,  this day  of 

,  191  . 


Superintendent.  Teacher. 

The  city  of  Los  Angeles,  California,  uses  a 
plan  of  marking  home  work  on  the  report  card 
and  giving  no  other  incentive.  Notice  that  a 
certain  number  of  minutes  daily  for  ten  weeks 
is  the  unit,  and  that  the  number  of  minutes 
varies  according  to  the  age  of  the  child.  Ob- 
serve the  emphasis  on  care  of  yards  and  streets, 
also  on  care  of  little  brothers  and  sisters. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Home  Credits, 
Los  Angeles  Schools 

The  Committee  on  Home  Credits  makes  these 
recommendations :  — 

1.  That  the  "Home  Credits"  be  not  used  as  a 
substitute  for  other  work,  and  also  that  they 
be  not  applied  to  increase  the  grade  of  other 
subjects  except  as  any  work  well  done  neces- 
sarily improves  all  work  of  the  child. 

2.  That  the  words  "Home  Credit"  be  written 


142    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOB  HOME  WORK 

on  the  new  cards  just  published,  and  that  in 
the  future  these  words  be  printed  as  a  regular 
part  of  the  card,  with  space  for  inserting  the 
number  of  credits. 

8.  That  in  the  several  grades  the  following  con- 
stitute one  credit :  — 

(a)  First  and  second  grades,  10  minutes  of 
daily  work  for  10  weeks. 
(6)  Third  and  fourth  grades,  15  minutes  of 
daily  work  for  10  weeks, 
(c)  Fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades, 
20  minutes  of  daily  work  for  10  weeks,  and 
that  multiples  of  such  work  in  10,  15,  20 
minutes  be  allowed  so  that  a  child  may  earn 
several  credits  each  ten  weeks. 

4.  That  the  following  subjects  be  selected  for 
the  initial  trial  of  the  plan:  — 

1.  Taking  care  of  the  baby. 

2.  Bathing  baby. 

3.  Washing  or  wiping  dishes. 

4.  Washing  or  ironing  clothes. 

5.  Washing  windows. 

6.  Scrubbing  floor. 
7.,  Sweeping  floor. 

8.  Setting  table. 

9.  Dusting  and  putting  room  in  order. 

10.  Sweeping  or  cleaning  yard. 

11.  Sweeping  sidewalk. 

12.  Cleaning  street  in  front  of  home. 

13.  Care  of  garbage  can. 

14.  Getting  meals. 

15.  Making  beds. 

16.  Mending  clothes. 

17.  Making  new  or  making  over  old  clothes  for 
family. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    143 

18.  Working  in  shop  or  store. 

19.  Working  in  and  caring  for  garden. 

20.  Running  errands,  going  to  market,  store,  etc. 

21.  Driving  delivery  wagon. 

22.  Selling  papers. 

23.  Taking  little  brothers  and  sisters  to  school, 
clean  and  on  time. 

24.  Clean  hands,  faces,  clothes. 

25.  Clean  heads. 

26.  Raising  poultry  or  rabbits. 

27.  Any  other  outside  work  peculiar  to  particular 
district  if  approved  by  Supervising  Superin- 
tendent. 

WEEKLY  RECORDS,  THREE  OR  MORE 
MONTHS'  REPORTS 

Mr.  F.  W.  Simmonds,  superintendent  of 
city  "schools,  Lewiston,  Idaho,  has  instituted 
a  plan  for  daily  and  weekly  records  with  a 
report  for  three  months,  which  he  writes  is 
"working  out  most  successfully."  The  state- 
ment of  his  particular  scheme  which  he  gives 
in  his  home  credit  record  folder  is  accompanied 
by  an  excellent  presentation  of  the  nature  and 
scope  of  the  home  credit  plan  in  general :  —  t 

A  Plan  for  School  and  Home  Cooperation 

One  of  the  vital  problems  of  school  administra- 
tion to-day  is  that  of  securing  closer  cooperation 
between  school  and  home  life.  When  the  child 
learns  that  education  is  living  and  working  the  best 
way  he  has  made  considerable  progress  on  the 


144    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

educational  road.  Our  school  curriculum  should 
encourage  this  wholesome  attitude  toward  the 
everyday  tasks. 

Children  must  have  time  for  real  play  and  plenty 
of  it,  but  let  us  not  forget  that  real  work  is  also  a 
part  of  the  child's  rightful  heritage,  and  that  when 
rightly  directed,  children  like  to  work  —  they  are 
eager  to  take  part  in  some  of  the  real  activities 
of  life.  However,  they  must  not  be  permitted  to 
attempt  too  much  —  a  reasonable  amount  of  work 
well  done  regularly  and  suited  to  the  child's  age  and 
ability  is  what  is  desired. 

Filling  out  this  card  is  optional  with  the  parent,  no 
grade  on  the  quality  of  the  work  done  by  the  child 
is  asked  for,  merely  the  approximate  time  regu- 
larly devoted  to  that  task.  Note  the  time;  one 
half -hour,  one  hour,  two  hours,  etc.,  in  the  proper 
column  on  this  card.  Your  filling  out  and  signing 
this  card  will  assure  us  that  the  work  was  well  done, 
regularly  and  satisfactorily. 

The  work  may  include  any  one  or  more  of  the 
multitude  of  home  tasks,  or  any  work  done  regu- 
larly, as  sewing,  ironing,  washing  dishes,  preparing 
meals,  baking,  cutting  kindling,  gardening,  milk- 
ing, caring  for  poultry,  f ceding  stock,  making  beds, 
music  lessons,  tending  furnace,  etc. 

Some  tasks  occur  daily  (others  weekly,  as  regu- 
lar Saturday  chores,  music  lessons  and  the  like). 
Nothing  less  than  a  half-hour  is  to  be  recognized, 
though  two  or  more  tasks  may  be  grouped  to  make 
a  half-hour  daily  or  weekly.  The  average  child 
will  be  anxious  to  figure  his  home  service  in  the 
large;  but  a  reasonably  conservative  "statement 
of  account"  will  have  a  greater  disciplinary  value, 
and  will  make  for  efficiency. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    145 

The  unit  of  home  credit  will  be  one  half-hour's 
daily  work  throughout  the  month.  Time  spent  on 
regular  weekly  tasks  will  be  adjusted  by  the 
teacher  to  this  basis.  If  the  work  in  quantity, 
quality  and  regularity  is  deemed  worthy,  the 
teacher  will  credit  the  pupil  with  the  number  of 
home  credits  earned,  which  will  be  added  to  the 
pupil's  standing  at  the  end  of  the  semester  in 
determining  promotion.  Each  unit  of  credit  in 
home  work  will  have  the  effect  of  raising  a  monthly 
grade  in  some  subject  one  step  as  from  poor  to  fair, 
or  fair  to  good,  etc.  By  means  of  home  credits,  a 
pupil  has  an  opportunity  to  raise  his  promotion 
standing  to  "Promoted  with  Honor,"  or  "Pro- 
moted with  Highest  Honors"  as  the  case  may  be, 
if  he  should  lack  a  point  or  two,  and  have  earned 
enough  home  credits  to  offset  this. 

In  the  Borough  of  the  Bronx  in  New  York 
City,  Mr.  Frederick  J.  Reilly  began  to  give 
school  credit  for  home  work  in  the  fall  of  1914. 
He  issues  two  cards  of  different  colors,  one  for 
the  girls  and  one  for  the  boys.  The  cards  are 
alike  except  for  the  words  "he"  and  "she." 
Notice  that  the  cards  are  well  planned  for  use 
in  city  homes.  At  present  they  are  used  by 
the  children  of  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 
Mr.  Reilly  says,  "  The  important  thing  is  not 
the  amount  of  credit  the  child  receives  in 
school,  but  rather  the  amount  of  influence  this 
may  have  upon  the  training  of  the  child  at 
home." 


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148    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Superintendent  E.  B.  Conklin,  of  Ontario, 
Malheur  County,  in  1912,  was  the  next  in 
Oregon  after  Mr.  O'Reilly  to  send  a  letter  to 
parents,  and  to  arrange  for  giving  credits  on 
home  work.  On  page  149  are  the  inside  pages 
of  the  folder  that  Mr.  Conklin  devised;  it 
was  the  first  of  the  printed  home  credit  re- 
port cards.  Notice  the  entries  of  manners, 
of  "  doing  before  told,"  and  of  "  kindness  to 
animals." 

Mr.  E.  G.  Bailey,  superintendent  of  On- 
tario, 1913-14,  writes  that  they  have  been 
using  home  credits  continuously  there,  and 
that  the  system  has  proved  to  be  a  wonderful 
help.  "It  gets  parents  and  teachers  together 
as  nothing  else  can,  and  gives  the  superin- 
tendent a  show.  The  home  work  is  to  the 
teacher  what  the  school  work  is  to  the  parent. 
The  teacher  is  enabled  to  get  an  insight  into 
the  home  life  of  the  pupil,  which  in  turn 
enables  her  the  better  to  deal  with  whatever 
situation  may  arise.  In  the  main  the  parents 
make  an  effort  to  let  the  teacher  know  what 
the  pupils  are  doing  at  home.  We  have  very 
few  failures  from  parents  not  doing  their  duty 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    149 


E  —  Excellent.    G  —  Good. 


Sewing  and  mending  

Washing  and  wiping  dishes  

Sweeping  and  making  beds  

Mopping  and  care  of  kitchen  

Making  fires  

Getting  water,  coal,  kindling,  etc  

Feeding  stock  or  poultry  

Milking  cows  

Barn  or  yard  work  

Errands  

F  —  Fair.     P  —  Poor. 


150    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

in  this  matter;  where  they  fail,  we  refuse  to 
send  any  report  home.  Since  adopting  the 
system  our  attendance  has  been  better,  and 
the  punctuality  has  been  better;  in  fact, 
things  have  been  greatly  improved  in  every 
respect." 

Early  in  December,  1913,  a  large  meeting 
in  the  interest  of  social  center  work  was  held 
in  Roslyn,  Washington.  At  this  meeting  the 
city  superintendent,  Linden  McCullough, 
explained  the  school  credit  for  home  work 
idea.  He  advised  that  a  vote  be  taken  as  to 
whether  the  schools  of  that  town  should 
adopt  the  plan.  The  vote  showed  that  par- 
ents, teachers,  and  pupils  were  enthusiastic 
over  the  idea  and  eager  to  try  it.  The 
Woman's  Club  of  the  city  volunteered  to 
assist  in  every  possible  way.  The  following 
from  letters  from  Mr.  McCullough  gives  the 
result  of  the  trial :  — 

Seventy-five  per  cent  of  our  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  pupils  are  taking  advantage  of  the  scheme. 
Our  truant  officer  says  that  every  parent  he  has 
talked  with  has  praised  the  plan,  for  the  reason 
that  all  the  children  do  their  chores  with  more 
spirit.  Our  police  officers  have  noticed  a  falling-off 
in  the  number  of  children  on  the  streets;  so  much 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    151 

so  that  juvenile  court  cases  are  much  fewer  in 
number.  The  teachers  notice  an  improvement  in 
school  work  along  all  lines. 

One  boy  in  the  fourth  grade  who  was  disagree- 
ably indifferent  about  his  personal  care  now  takes 
baths  regularly,  and  always  brushes  his  hair,  and 
keeps  his  clothing  clean  and  neat.  Roslyn  has  a 
large  number  of  foreign  people.  Teachers  in  the 
first  three  grades  say  that  parents  of  foreign  chil- 
dren do  not  grasp  the  idea  very  well,  but  that 
older  brothers  and  sisters  explain  its  workings, 
and  attend  to  keeping  tab  on  the  reports  of  the 
little  children. 

On  the  next  two  pages  is  a  copy  of  the 
Roslyn  folder.  Notice  the  entries  of  mending, 
cleaning  yard,  putting  away  playthings,  work 
done  for  wages,  work  "in  father's  place  of 
business,"  home  study  (school  work),  and 
reading  good  books. 


152    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 


Home  Credit  Report  Card,  Roslyn  Public  Schools 
Name  of  Pupil Teacher Grade 


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Caring  for  cows  

Caring  for  chickens  

Caring  for  horses  

Caring  for  hogs  

Cleaning  barn  or  yard  

Washing  dishes  

Sweeping  

Washing  and  ironing  

Caring  for  baby  

Cleaning  teeth  

Going  to  bed  at  

Arising  at  

Sewing  

Making  beds  

Peddling  milk  or  papers  

ICnitting     ,        ,     ,     ,,..,.,,.,.,,-,..,,, 

Mending  

Putting  away  playthings  

Baking  

ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    153 


Home  Credit  Report  Card  —  continued 


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Carrying  kindling  

Splitting  wood  

Work,  father's  place  of  business  

Shoveling  snow  

Home  study,  school  work  

Cooking  

Odd  jobs                           

In  Wilbur,  Washington,  a  scheme  provid- 
ing for  a  credit  report  for  the  semester  is  in 
successful  operation.  Here  Superintendent 
E.  O.  McCormick  carries  on  the  plan  by 
means  of  two  report  cards,  the  one  sent  from 
the  school  to  the  home,  the  other  from  the 
home  to  the  school,  every  six  weeks.  The 
home  card  is  reproduced  below. 


154    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Report  Card  from  the  Home  to  the  School 

Name. 

Parent  or  Guardian, 

First  Semester 


For 


Period 

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Sleeping  with  open 
window  

Keeping  temper  

Washing  teeth  

Time  in  recreation.  .  .  . 

Off  streets  

This  report  sent  to  the  teacher  when  the  report  card  is  returned  to  the 
school  will  help  raise  the  standing  of  your  child  in  its  school  work. 

E.  O.  McCoBMicK,  Supt. 

The  following  subjects  are  of  a  suggestive  nature;  you  may  use  as  many 
as  may  be  applicable  to  your  child.  Others  not  listed  may  be  used.  Write 
in  the  blank  spaces  on  the  front  of  this  card  those  subjects  under  your  ob- 
servation. 


Sawing  wood. 
Washing  dishes. 
Care  of  house. 
Care  of  cows. 
Making  beds. 
Sweeping. 
Ironing. 


In  bed  by  nine  (yes  or  no). 

Building  fire  in  mornings. 

Care  of  chickens. 

Churning. 

Making  bread,  biscuits,  etc. 

Preparing  meals  for  family. 

Blacking  the  stove. 


Any  work  or  interest  in  home  as  shown  by  the  child  should  be  noted  on 
the  front  of  the  card,  under  the  list  of  subjects. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Sterling,  of  Clarke  County, 
Washington,  was  one  of  the  first  county  super- 
intendents to  get  out  a  card  suitable  for  use 
throughout  her  schools.  She  strongly  urged 
the  teachers  of  her  county  to  try  the  plan, 


ILLUSTRATIVE  HOME  CREDIT  PLANS    155 

and  in  1914  eighty-five  teachers  were  operat- 
ing it.  This  card  provides  a  record  for  the 
whole  school  year,  with  a  general  average  for 
the  nine  months.  To  secure  credit  the  pupil 
is  required  to  average  eight  hours  per  week, 
or  thirty-two  hours  per  month,  at  "  real  hon- 
est, helpful  labor  that  relieves  the  father  and 
mother  of  that  amount  of  work."  This  done, 
the  teacher  is  to  add  three  credits  to  the 
average  gamed  by  the  pupil  at  the  school 
during  the  month  of  his  or  her  studies.  Addi- 
tional credits  are  to  be  given  for  more  than 
thirty-two  hours  per  month  at  the  rate  of  one 
credit  for  every  ten  hours'  work.  The  parent 
or  guardian  is  cautioned  to  keep  track  of  the 
number  of  hours  that  the  boy  or  girl  actually 
spends  per  week  at  any  of  the  kinds  of  work 
named  on  the  credit  report  card,  or  any  other 
real  work  that  is  not  there  listed.  The  printed 
list  comprises :  — 

Milking.  Baking. 

Churning.  Washing. 

Turning  separator.  Ironing. 

Caring  for  horses.  Sweeping. 

Caring  for  cows.  Dusting. 

Caring  for  pigs.  Sewing. 

Caring  for  poultry.  Running  errands. 

Cleaning  barn.  Making  beds. 

Splitting  wood.  Washing  dishes. 

Carrying  in  wood.  Building  fires. 

Gardening.  Caring  for  little  children. 

Cooking. 


II 

HOME  CREDIT  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

SEVERAL  high  schools  have  sent  us  reports 
of  their  plans  for  giving  credit  for  work  out- 
side of  school.  Some  of  these  schools  use 
plans  that  differ  considerably  from  those  of  the 
elementary  schools  where  the  movement  be- 
gan; they  lay  emphasis  on  improvement  in 
work,  and  to  this  end  they  require  that  all 
the  work  be  supervised  by  the  teachers  of 
home  economics,  agriculture,  commerce,  or 
manual  training.  Other  high  schools  try  to 
encourage  the  habit  of  industry,  no  matter 
what  the  kind  of  work,  and  offer  credit  for 
such  tasks  as  running  errands,  delivering 
groceries,  or  carrying  a  paper  route.  In  my 
opinion  both  ideas  are  good;  there  is  no  end 
to  the  possibilities  of  developing  skill  in  home 
work  under  the  instruction  of  one  who  really 
knows  how  to  do  it,  and  there  is  also  great 
value  in  the  encouragement  of  faithful  indus- 
try in  routine  tasks. 


AUBURN,  WASHINGTON,  HIGH  SCHOOL  BOYS 

IX  RAILROAD  SHOPS 
This  is  good  school  equipment.  It  cost  $200,000 


HIGH  SCHOOL  PLANS  157 

Descriptions  of  parts  of  the  work  of  a  few 
high  schools  are  given  here. 

In  the  High  School  of  Santa  Monica,  Cali- 
fornia, two  credits  for  home  work  are  allowed 
out  of  the  total  of  sixteen  required  for  gradu- 
ation, and  pupils  with  a  certain  average  stand- 
ing who  earn  eighteen  credits,  two  of  them  for 
home  work,  may  graduate  cum  laude. 

Below  is  given  a  list  of  tasks  for  which  school 
credit  will  be  allowed:— 

One-half  credit  per  year:  — 

Regular  music  lessons,  instrumental  or  vocal,  under 

a  competent  instructor. 
Making  own  clothes  for  school. 
Doing  family  darning  and  mending. 
Preparing  one  meal  a  day  for  a  year. 
Carrying  paper  route. 

One-half  credit  for  half-time  for  a  year,  or  for  full  time  for 

summer  vacation:  — 
Clerking  in  store,  bank,  or  office. 
Cement  work,  or  work  in  any  local  trades  or  industries. 
Regular  work  on  a  farm. 

One-half  credit:  — 

Raising  one-fourth  acre  of  potatoes,  melons,  onions, 
strawberries,  or  similar  products. 

Employment  in  a  dressmaking  or  millinery  estab- 
lishment for  summer  vacation. 

One-fourth  credit  per  year  each:  — 

Sleeping  for  one  year  in  the  open  air. 

Retiring  at  10  P.M.  five  days  per  week  for  one  year. 


158    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Taking  a  cold  bath  every  morning  five  times  per 

week  on  an  average  for  one  year. 
Walking  three  miles  per  day  for  a  year. 

Credit  will  be  given  for  the  following  ac- 
cording to  the  amount  of  work :  — 

Public  speaking  or  reciting.  Reading  aloud  to  family 
or  to  invalids. 

Horticulture.  Gardening.  Poultry-raising.  Bee- 
culture. 

Taking  care  of  cows  or  other  animals.  General  dairy 
work. 

Sewing  for  the  family.  Doing  the  family  laundry. 
House-cleaning,  bed-making,  dish-washing,  or  any 
other  useful  work  about  the  house. 

Getting  younger  children  ready  for  school  every  day. 
Caring  for  a  baby. 

Nursing  the  sick, 

Making  a  canoe  or  boat.  Taking  full  care  of  an  auto- 
mobile. Perfecting  any  mechanical  contrivance 
for  saving  labor  about  the  home. 

Recognizing  and  describing  twenty  different  native 
birds,  trees  or  flowers. 

Summer  vacation  travel  with  written  description. 

Playing  golf  or  tennis.    Sea-bathing  and  swimming. 

Keeping  a  systematic  savings  bank  account,  with 
regular  weekly  or  monthly  deposits. 

Keeping  a  set  of  books  for  father  or  some  merchant. 
Doing  correspondence  for  father  or  other  business 
man. 

Running  errands.   Delivering  groceries. 

Singing  in  church  choir.    Teaching  in  Sunday  school. 

Carpentry  work.  Cabinet-making,  furniture  con- 
struction. 

Working  as  forest  ranger. 


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160    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

In  the  High  School  at  St.  Cloud,  Minne- 
sota, great  attention  is  paid  to  vacation  work 
as  well  as  to  work  done  during  the  school  year. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  fall  term  the  following 
questionnaire  is  sent  to  high  school  pupils,  and 
to  elementary  pupils  above  the  fourth  grade: 

Vacation  Report  —  Grades  Five  to  Twelve 

School. 

NOTE  —  Teachers  are  requested  to  have  pupils  fill  out  this  blank 
carefully.  It  is  very  important.  Explain  each  question.  Caution  chil- 
dren not.  to  over-  or  under-estimate. 

1.  Name Age Grade  or  Class 

2.  Did  you  help  at  home  during  the  summer  vacation? 

3.  Did  you  take  music  lessons? ....  Travel? . . .  Attend  Summer  School? 

4.  Did  you  do  any  work  along  the  line  of  agriculture,  horticulture, 

gardening,  bee-culture  or  poultry-raising?   If  eo,  what? 

Estimate  carefully  the  net  profit $..-.. 

0.  Did  you  have  a  flower  garden? Name  six  or  more  of  the 

leading  flowers  that  you  raised 


6.  Name  wild  flowers,  birds,  or  trees  you  have  observed  this  summer. 

Flowers 

Birds 

Trees 

7.  What  pieces  of  hand-work,  if  any,  did  you  do  during  vacation? 

Wearing  apparel 

Household  art 

Wood Iron 

Cement Give  estimated  value  of  such  hand-work  $ .... 

8.  What  electrical    contrivance  or  other  home  accessory  did   you 
make  to  save  your  mother  work? 

9.  Which  of  the  following  home  tasks  did  you  do  this  summer? 

Prepare  one  meal  alone  daily? ....  Bake  the  bread? 

Bake  a  cake? Make  the  beds? 

Do  the  washing? Do  the  ironing? 

10.  Are  you  sleeping  in  the  open  air  or  with  open  window? 

11.  Can  you  swim  300  feet  or  more?  ....  Did  you  learn  this  summer?  .... 

12.  Were  you  employed  elsewhere  than  at  home? 

13.  State  kind  of  work  done Employer 

14.  Number  of  weeks  employed  ....  Amount  earned  per  week.  $ .... 

15.  Total  amount  of  cash  earned  during  vacation.  $ .... 

16.  Fair  estimate  of  the  value  of  your  home  work.  $ .... 

17.  Total  cash  value  of  your  summer  work  (items  15  and  16).       $ 

18.  Have  you  a  savings  bank  account?  . .  Amount  of  your  deposit  $ .... 
Principals  ascertain  amount  of  deposit  for  lower  grades.  $ .... 


HIGH  SCHOOL  PLANS  161 

The  financial  results  of  this  vacation  work 
are  summarized  as  follows :  — 

Total  Deposit 

Cash        Home  Work    Earnings        in  Bank 

High  School $6,393.01       $1744.45      $8137.44       $2793.36 

Total  for  city 16,422.00        3666.15        9559.25        3144.92 

Highest  individual  earnings  —  High  School $260.00 

—  Grades 200.00 

Average  "       —  High  School 76.00 

Highest  deposit    —      "          "     300.00 

—  Grades 500.00 

Pupils  may  graduate  with  honor  from  the 
St.  Cloud  High  School  by  attaining  certain 
standings  and  by  offering  two  credits  for  home 
or  continuation  work.  One  of  the  sixteen 
credits  required  for  regular  graduation  may 
be  a  credit  for  home  or  continuation  work. 

The  list  of  credits  is  divided  into  two  parts, 
outside  work  and  home  work.  Among  the 
many  outside  activities  mentioned  in  the  St. 
Cloud  list,  we  find:  — 

Literary  society  work,  or  rhetoricals,  debate,  public 
speaking,  or  expressive  reading,  one-fourth  unit 
per  year. 

Granite  or  paving-block  cutting,  or  work  in  any  of 
the  local  trades,  shops,  factories,  or  industries, 
one-fourth  unit  for  each  summer  vacation. 

Steady  work  on  a  farm,  followed  by  a  satisfactory 
essay  on  some  agricultural  subject,  one-fourth  unit 
for  three  months. 

Raising  one  fourth  of  an  acre  of  onions,  tomatoes, 
strawberries,  or  celery,  one  acre  of  potatoes,  two 
acres  of  pop  corn,  five  acres  of  corn  or  alfalfa,  one- 
fourth  unit. 


162    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

Running  a  split  road  drag  or  doing  other  forms  of 
road-building  for  three  months,  one-fourth  unit. 

Judging,  with  a  degree  of  accuracy,  the  different 
types  of  horses,  cattle,  and  hogs,  one-fourth  unit. 

"See  Minnesota  First"  trip  under  approved  instruc- 
tor, with  essay,  one-fourth  unit. 

Among  the  home  tasks  are  mentioned:  — 

Shingling  or  painting  the  house  or  barn. 

Making  a  canoe  or  boat. 

Swimming  300  feet  at  one  continuous  performance. 

Cooking   meat  and   eggs   three   ways   and   making 

three  kinds  of  cake.  Exhibit. 

Doing  the  laundry  work  weekly  for  three  months. 
Recognizing  and  describing  twenty  different  native 
birds,  trees,  and  flowers. 

The  Ames,  Iowa,  High  School  course  out- 
lines out-of -school  work  in  three  departments : 
agriculture,  manual  training,  and  home  eco- 
nomics. I  quote  from  the  home  economics 
prospectus :  — 

Unless  the  work  is  ...  made  to  connect  with  the  work 
in  the  home  it  loses  much  of  its  vitality.  Our  aim  is  to 
relate  the  home  and  the  school  and  permit  each  to 
contribute  its  share  in  making  the  work  vital,  really 
worth  while.  The  girl  .  .  .  may  carry  into  the  home  some 
new  ways  of  working,  and  there  will  be  an  exchange  of 
ideas  between  mother  and  daughter  as  to  hows  and 
whys  .  .  .  that  will  result  beneficially  to  both.  As  the 
girl  carries  these  ideas  and  discoveries  back  into  the 
school  we  shall  be  able  to  know  better  the  needs  of  home 
and  social  life,  and  hence  so  plan  our  work  that  it  may 
"carry  over"  into  her  out-of -school  life. 


HIGH  SCHOOL  PLANS  163 

A  total  of  two  credits  to  apply  on  gradua- 
tion may  be  earned  in  home  economics  at  the 
Ames  High  School.  Three  hundred  points 
equal  one  credit. 

Two  hundred  points  each  are  offered  for 
cookery,  general  housework  and  sewing. 

Cooking  is  to  be  done  for  the  family  at  home,  and 
whenever  possible  a  sample  brought  to  the  school  for 
examination,  together  with  the  recipes  giving  itemized 
cost,  and  a  signed  statement  that  the  entire  work  was 
done  by  the  girl  herself.  A  list  of  things  to  be  cooked 
is  given:  ten  dishes  are  required,  the  other  five  are  to 
be  chosen  from  the  list.  The  list  for  the  first  year  fol- 
lows; dishes  required  are  marked  with  a  star  and  receive 
seven  points  credit,  the  others  receive  six  points. 

Some  fresh  vegetable  cooked  and  served  in  a  white 
sauce. 

Potatoes  in  some  form. 

Tapioca. 

Rice. 

Macaroni. 

Muffins. 

*Baking  powder  biscuit. 
*Plain  cake,  with  or  without  frosting. 
*Drop  cookies. 
*Rolled  cookies. 
*Pastry. 
*Gelatin  with  soft  custard. 

Cottage  cheese. 

Scalloped  dish. 

Custard,  or  some  kind  of  custard  pudding  (bread,  rice, 
tapioca). 

Steamed  brown  bread. 


164    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

"Prune  whip.   |  Qne  Q{  thege  required.  eitner  may  ^ 

Marguerites.  ) 
chosen. 

Fondant  candies. 

Salad  with  cooked  or  French  dressing. 
*Sandwiches  —  three  kinds  of  filling. 
*Bread. 
*Baked  beans. 

General  housework  includes  making  girl's  own  bed 
each  day;  daily  and  weekly  care  of  bedroom,  helping 
with  general  housework  one-half  hour  each  day  and 
one  hour  on  Saturdays  (sweeping,  dusting,  ironing, 
washing  dishes,  washing  windows,  etc.).  The  total 
credit  for  this  is  12^  points  for  one  month. 

In  the  course  in  sewing,  the  home  work  is  brought  to 
school  for  examination  and  grading.  The  list  for  sec- 
ond year  sewing  follows:  — 

One-third  credit  —  100  points,  open  to  girls  who  are 
taking,  or  who  have  completed  second  year  sewing. 

Princess  slip 50  points. 

House  dress 75 

Shirtwaist 50 

Woolen  skirt 75 

Made-over  dress 75 

Nice  dress 100 

The  High  School  at  North  Yakima,  Wash- 
ington, gives  credit  for  work  in  music  un- 
der approved  teachers;  for  practice-teaching 
(coaching)  by  normal  students  in  the  grades; 
and  for  work  in  agriculture. 

The  summer  work  in  agriculture  is  planned 
before  the  close  of  the  school  in  the  spring. 


HIGH  SCHOOL  PLANS  165 

Each  pupil  informs  the  instructor  in  agricul- 
ture as  to  the  kind  of  work  he  intends  to  do. 
The  instructor  visits  each  pupil  several  times 
during  the  summer,  discussing  methods  of 
work,  results,  etc.,  with  him  and  his  employer, 
and  designating  pamphlets,  bulletins,  and  mag- 
azine articles  for  him  to  read.  In  1914,  fifty- 
four  pupils  applied  for  credit  for  work  in 
agriculture. 

Rules  for  Summer  Agricultural  Work  in 
North  Yakima,  Washington 

1.  Students  may  earn  one  credit  in  agriculture  toward 
graduation  by  work  completed  outside  of  school 
during  the  vacation  period. 

2.  At  least  250  hours  of  work  must  be  completed 
before  any  credit  will  be  given. 

3.  Complete  records  and  systematic  reports  kept  by 
the   applicant,   giving   all   information   required, 
and  signed  by  the  parent  or  employer,  shall  be 
filed  with  the  instructor  in  agriculture  every  two 
weeks. 

4.  Applicants   shall   secure   such   information   as   a 
result  of  reading,  study,  and  questioning  experi- 
enced workers,  as  may  be  necessary  to  convince 
the  instructor  in  charge  that  the  work  has  been 
of  sufficient  educational  value  to  justify  the  grant- 
ing of  a  credit. 

5.  Pupils  wishing  to  receive  credit  for  this  work  shall 
make  application  for  the  privilege  before  begin- 
ning the  work.  Lists  of  reference  books,  kinds  and 
character  of  notebooks,  shall  be  designated  by  the 
instructor  in  agriculture. 


166    SCHOOL  CREDIT  FOR  HOME  WORK 

6.  An  examination  covering  the  work  may  be  given 
by  the  school  authorities. 

7.  Work  may  be  done  along  the  following  lines: 

a.  Vegetable  gardening  work;  keeping  results 
of  work  done  in  complete  form. 

6.  Feeding  of  stock,  poultry,  etc.;  keeping  re- 
cords of  foods  used,  amounts  and  results 
obtained. 

c.  Thinning,  picking,  packing,  marketing,  cul- 
tivation and  irrigation  of  fruits,  etc. 

d.  Eradication  of  blight,  other  orchard  diseases 
and  pests;  complete  records  of  attempts  to 
reduce  damage  done  by  these  causes. 

e.  Growing  of  cereal,  grass,  or  forage  crops. 

/.  Keeping  records  of  dairy  animals;  milk  test- 
ing records  for  monthly  periods. 

g.  Care  of  bees,  handling  of  honey,  etc.;  com- 
plete records. 


APPENDIX 


MR.  JOHN  C.  WERNER,  of  the  college  extension 
division  of  the  Kansas  State  Agricultural  College, 
wrote  in  1914  a  very  valuable  bulletin  entitled 
"School  Credit  for  Home  Work,"  the  essential 
features  of  which  are  given.1  Notice  that  he  rec- 
ommends that  pupils  furnish  the  reports  them- 
selves over  their  own  signatures,  as  putting  them 
on  their  honor  is  considered  valuable,  and  in  jus- 
tice due  them. 

In  a  letter  Mr.  Werner  says:  "My  idea  of  giving 
credit  is  to  use  the  old  laboratory  method  of  re- 
quiring the  student  to  do  a  reasonable  amount  of 
work  hi  a  reasonable  length  of  time.  This  allows 
for  many  of  the  variable  factors  that  enter  into  the 
problem;  I  think  it  is  better  than  to  give  so  many 
points  of  credit  for  each  piece  of  work  done." 

In  the  first  six  grades  of  the  elementary  school,  where 
so  much  depends  upon  using  the  child's  knowledge 
which  he  has  gained  from  actual  experiences  about 
home,  and  the  environment  with  which  he  comes  in 
contact  which  is  really  a  part  of  himself,  we  have  the 
best  basis  for  his  further  education.  In  these  grades  it 
will  be  raising  and  not  lowering  our  standards  when  we 
give  credit  for  home  work  and  add  it  to  the  school 
credits  for  passing  grades.  All  of  the  subjects  of  these 
grades  should  be  so  closely  affiliated  with  the  home  life 

1  For  other  quotations  from  this  bulletin,  see  pages  46,  50, 
and  51. 


168  APPENDIX 

of  the  child  as  to  warrant  our  doing  this.  It  is  so  im- 
portant that  the  child  be  engaged  in  the  actual  doing  of 
things  that  the  perfect  grade  of  100  per  cent  should  be 
divided  into  two  divisions:  (1)  A  maximum  of  90  per 
cent  for  school  work.  (2)  A  maximum  of  10  per  cent 
for  home  work  when  proper  records  and  reports  are  kept. 

In  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  and  in  the  high 
school,  work  corresponding  to  the  age  and  ability  of  the 
pupils  should  be  introduced  and  made  part  of  the  labo- 
ratory work,  giving  two  fifths  of  a  unit  of  credit.  Here 
written  reports  of  the  operations  performed  should  be 
worked  out  by  the  pupils  and  presented  as  class  work. 
Classes  should  visit  the  dairy  barns,  feeding  pens,  gar- 
dens, corn  or  grass  fields,  orchards,  etc.  Pupils  should 
carry  on  considerable  individual  home  work,  which 
should  continue  throughout  the  summer  as  well  as  win- 
ter season.  This  credit  should  be  counted  in  agriculture, 
domestic  arts  and  manual-training  courses. 

The  various  contests  among  the  boys  and  girls,  that 
are  conducted  in  all  parts  of  the  state,  certainly  should 
be  counted  worthy  of  school  credit.  These  contests  are 
directly  or  indirectly  under  the  auspices  of  the  Agricul- 
tural College,  and  numerous  bulletins  are  sent  to  the 
contestants.  Many  children  actually  receive  in  these 
contests  almost  the  equal  of  a  year's  course  in  school. 

Suggestive  List  of  Subjects  for  Credit  for  Home  Work 
1.  Agriculture 

Milking  cows.  Digging  potatoes. 

Feeding  horses.  Hitching  and  unhitching  horses. 

Cleaning  cow  barns.  Beating  rugs. 

Cleaning  horse  barns.  Hauling  feed. 

Feeding  cows.  Pumping  water. 

Feeding  sheep.  Cutting  wood. 

Feeding  beef  cattle.  Carrying  in  fuel. 

Feeding  hogs.  Getting  the  cows. 

Feeding  poultry.  Gathering  eggs. 

Watering  stock.  Tending  to  the  poultry  house. 

Churning.  Tending  pig  pen. 

Turning  separator.  Bedding  of  stock. 

Tending  fires.  Preparing  kindling. 

Running  errands.  Miscellaneous. 


APPENDIX 


169 


2.  Domestic  Arts 


Preparing  meala. 

Making  biscuits. 

Baking  bread. 

Baking  cake. 

Baking  pie. 

Washing  clothes. 

Ironing  clothes. 

Caring  for  baby. 

Overseeing  home  while  mother  is 

away. 

Scrubbing  floor. 
Washing  dishes. 
Wiping  dishes. 
Making  beds. 
Sweeping  the  house. 


Dusting  rugs. 
Airing  bedclothes. 
Ventilating  bedroom. 
Dressing  the  baby. 
Canning  fruit. 
Caring  for  milk. 
Sewing. 

Dusting  furniture. 
Care  of  self. 
Making  dress. 
Making  apron. 
Care  of  teeth. 
Setting  the  table. 
Care  of  sick. 
Miscellaneous. 


3.  Manual  Training 


Making  farm  gate. 
Making  peck  crate. 
Making  chair. 
Making  clothes  rack. 
Making  pencil  sharpener. 
Making  T-square. 
Making  towel  roller. 
Making  ruler. 

Making    picture    frame,    halved 
together  joints,  end  and  center. 
Making  mortise  and  tenon  joint. 
Making  bookrack. 
Miscellaneous. 
Making  ax  handle. 
Making  hayrack. 
Making  ironing  board. 
Making  cutting  board. 
Making  tool  rack. 
Making  staffboard  liner. 
Making  vine  rack. 


Making  sandpaper  blocks. 
Making  mail  box. 
Open  mortise  and  tenon  joint  (end). 
Making   halving   joint,    or   angle 

splice  joint. 
Making  feed  hopper. 
Making  whippletree. 
Making  wood  rack. 
Making  bench  hook. 
Making  coat  hanger. 
Making  nail  box. 
Making  table. 
Making  flower-pot  stand. 
Making  key  board. 
Making  pen  tray. 
Making  mortise  and  tenon  Joint 

(center). 

Making  dovetail  joint. 
Making  panel  door. 
Making  work  bench. 


4.  Home  Contests 


Corn  acre  contest. 
Poultry  and  pig  contest. 
Sewing  contest. 
Potato  plot  contest. 
Tomato  contest. 


Canning  contest. 
Garden  contest. 
Bread-baking  contest. 
Miscellaneous. 


Plan  for  Allowing  Credit 

It  is  absolutely  essential  in  taking  up  this  work  that 
the  teacher  make  a  careful  survey  in  her  neighborhood 


170  APPENDIX 

of  the  kinds  of  home  work  that  the  pupils  have  oppor- 
tunity to  do.  The  pupils  should  be  put  on  their  honor  in 
reporting  their  work,  and  the  teacher  must  work  out 
the  amount  of  credit  time  the  various  items  are  to 
receive,  and  from  the  pupils'  reports  grade  the  work. 
A  large  number  of  items  should  be  included  and  given 
their  relative  weight.  Quality  as  well  as  quantity  must 
be  judged  by  the  teacher.  This  supplies  a  working 
basis  for  cooperation  between  home  and  school. 

Besides  the  credits  earned  in  the  particular  subjects 
of  agriculture,  domestic  arts  and  manual  training,  where 
216  hours  will  add  two  fifths  of  a  unit,  other  work  may 
be  given  some  additional  credit  up  to  say  10  per  cent, 
as  physiology  and  geography.  It  is  also  possible  that 
subjects  such  as  English  and  arithmetic  may  be  so  cor- 
related as  to  be  at  least  partially  considered  in  connec- 
tion with  the  agriculture,  domestic  arts,  and  manual 
training  by  the  composition  required  and  the  problems 
furnished. 

It  is  not  expected  that  any  boy  or  girl  will  enter  all  of 
the  contests.  Contests  which  require  216  hours'  work 
should  be  given  two  fifths  of  a  unit  credit  in  the  subject 
to  which  it  belongs.  If  the  child  in  the  contest  is  below 
the  seventh  grade,  the  work  should  add  to  his  entire 
school  grade  up  to  10  per  cent.  The  fairness  of  this  plan 
will  appeal  to  the  boys  and  girls,  for  the  girl  or  boy  who 
has  third,  fourth  or  fifth  place  in  the  contest  deserves 
credit  as  well  as  the  one  who  wins  first  place. 

It  is  the  object  in  the  credit  for  home  work  both  to 
recognize  and  give  credit  because  of  the  educational 
value  to  the  child  of  such  work  which  he  does  with  his 
hands,  and  it  is  also  hoped  to  develop  the  child  into  a 
better  worker,  so  that  the  work  performed  will  be  con- 
stantly of  a  higher  order  as  the  child  grows  older.  In 
other  words,  we  have  a  constantly  changing  variable 
as  the  child  grows  older  as  to  the  time  necessary  to  do 
certain  work,  and  the  proficiency  with  which  the  work 
is  done.  Speed  in  doing  things  is  not  the  only  considera- 


APPENDIX  171 

tion,  and  yet  all  work  should  be  done  with  reasonable 
dispatch.  V 

In  inaugurating  this  work  it  seems  that  the  ordinary 
laboratory  method  for  giving  credit  is  quite  as  well 
adapted  to  home  laboratory  work  as  it  is  to  school 
laboratory  work.  If  the  perfect  grade,  100  per  cent  in 
the  elementary  school  in  grades  1  to  6,  inclusive,  be 
divided  into  two  parts,  i.e.,  a  maximum  of  90  per  cent 
for  school  work  and  a  maximum  of  10  per  cent  for  home 
work  for  all  pupils  who  desire  to  do  the  home  work, 
then  one  tenth  of  the  number  of  hours  in  the  school  year 
may  be  taken  as  the  basis  for  credit.  Counting  the 
double  period,  as  should  be  done,  216  hours  or  6  hours 
per  week  would  be  the  required  time  for  the  nine- 
months'  term  of  school  to  receive  full  credit.  The  pupil 
would,  therefore,  need  to  work  at  home  six  hours  per 
week.  This  work  should  be  scattered  throughout  the 
week  as  evenly  as  possible,  with  the  opportunity  of 
doing  not  to  exceed  three  hours'  work  in  any  one  day, 
as,  for  example,  on  Saturday.  As  in  the  laboratory 
system,  the  pupils,  regardless  of  the  overtime  put  in, 
could  only  receive  full  credit  for  any  year.  Pupils  who 
do  not  have  the  chance  for  home  work  will  not  be 
affected  in  their  work,  as  the  usual  method  of  grading 
will  apply  to  them.  Conditions  must  determine  the 
time  necessary  for  any  given  piece  of  work.  For  exam- 
ple, if  one  boy  feeds  a  team  of  horses  in  ten  minutes, 
another  in  fifteen  minutes,  another  in  five  minutes,  and 
another  in  thirty  minutes,  under  similar  conditions, 
perhaps  one  boy  is  working  too  rapidly  and  another  too 
slowly.  From  such  reports  it  seems  that  twelve  to  fifteen 
minutes  should  be  allowed  for  feeding  a  team  of  horses. 

The  best  and  most  profitable  division  of  time  for  the 
home  work  would  be  about  thirty  minutes,  both  morn- 
ing and  evening,  each  day.  During  these  work  periods 
different  things  should  be  done,  and  during  the  year  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  a  large  variety  of  different  kinds  of 
work  may  be  included.  If  the  home  is  in  sympathy  with 


172 


APPENDIX 


the  child's  work  it  can  help  very  materially  in  setting 
tasks  for  the  child  that  are  of  the  most  profitable  nature. 

Reports  to  Teachers 

The  pupils  should  furnish  the  reports  themselves  over 
their  own  signatures  for  the  home  work.  Putting  them 
on  their  own  honor  is  valuable  and  in  justice  is  due 
them.  Since  results  must  be  produced  in  most  kinds  of 
work,  the  teacher  can  judge  quite  accurately  as  to  the 
value  of  work. 

Illustrative  Report  Card 
Date.. 


Weekly  report  home  work. 
Elementary  school. 


Pupil. 


Work. 

Remarks. 

Time  spent  each  day. 

M. 

T. 

W. 

T. 

F. 

S. 

Feeding  horses  . 
Cut  wood  

1  team,  twice 
each  day  

J  cord,  stove 
length  

20 

22 

20 

18 

20 

20 
150 

Credit  for  seventh  and  eighth  grades  and  high  school 
grades  should  be  allowed  for  efficient  home  work  when 
properly  reported  as  laboratory  requirement  in  agri- 
culture, domestic  arts  and  manual  training.  In  these 
grades  all  careful,  systematic  work  during  the  summer 
season,  as  well  as  the  regular  school  year,  such  as  corn 
acre,  garden,  potato  plot,  tomato,  poultry,  pig,  canning, 


APPENDIX  173 

sewing,  cooking,  and  butter-making  contests,  should  be 
used  for  laboratory  credit.  Of  course  accurate  records 
of  the  work  must  be  made  at  the  time  the  work  is  per- 
formed. Schools  that  have  an  agricultural  teacher  dur- 
ing the  entire  year  will  directly  supervise  this  work. 
In  other  schools  the  reports  will  be  used  as  part  of  the 
next  year's  regular  class  work.  Suitable  report  blanks 
should  be  used  by  the  pupils  and  kept  in  laboratory 
notebook  form. 

The  pupils  of  seventh,  eighth  and  high-school  grades 
who  do  216  hours  of  acceptable  home  work  should  be 
given  two  fifths  of  a  unit  of  credit  in  the  subjects  of 
agriculture,  domestic  arts,  or  manual  training.  Here 
again  the  pupil  should  do  some  different  kinds  of  work 
and  make  the  experience  somewhat  varied.  In  the 
home  laboratory  the  teacher  will  determine  a  standard 
amount  of  work  of  any  kind  to  be  performed  in  a  given 
time. 


At  the  January,  1914,  meeting  of  the  California 
Teachers'  Association  the  following  report  on 
credit  for  work  done  outside  of  the  school  was 
submitted  by  Mr.  Hugh  J.  Baldwin:  — 

Credit  for  Work  Done  Outside  of  School 

Fulfilling  the  wishes  of  this  organization,  your  com- 
mittee sent  communications  to  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments of  large  manufacturing  and  commercial  interests, 
to  managers  of  railroads  and  educational  institutions, 
requesting  information  on  lines  of  work  upon  which  you 
wished  a  report.  Not  only  were  the  circulars  answered 
promptly,  but,  in  many  cases,  the  answers  were  remark- 
able. Some  of  them  suggested  in  definite  language  how 
outside  activities  might  be  made  harmoniously  supple- 
mental to  our  regular  school  work,  better  articulated 
therewith  than  had  been  planned. 

Many  strong  reasons  were  given ;  one  of  the  most 
potent  was  that  the  innovation  would  change  the  pres- 
ent attitude  of  the  average  person  towards  labor  —  in 
other  words,  to  dignify  the  labor  of  the  land,  to  honor 
and  respect  the  woman  who  can  prepare  nourishing 
food  in  the  kitchen  or  the  man  who  can  contribute  to 
the  world's  wealth  from  his  garden. 

Another  strong  thought  from  this  compilation  of 
opinions  resulted  in  the  contrast  between  the  systems 
of  American  and  German  polytechnic  or  manual  train- 
ing education.  The  German  schools  secure  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  factories  and  shops  and  stores  where  there  is 


APPENDIX  175 

particular  industrial  training  given,  all  without  cost  to 
state  or  municipality  for  the  tuition.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  the  United  States,  the  only  manual  training  that  has 
been  attempted  by  the  school  authorities  has  been  at 
greater  expense  to  the  people. 

In  communities  where  there  is  no  special  educational 
industrial  training  the  subject  of  this  committee  work 
is  very  important.  "Outside  Activities,"  or  credit  on 
school  reports  for  work  done  by  school  children  at  home, 
has  now  a  place  in  the  course  of  study  of  San  Diego 
County.  The  plan  has  passed  from  the  experimental 
stage,  having  been  given  a  thorough  tryout  in  all  the 
schools.  From  all  parts  of  the  county  reports  have 
come  full  of  enthusiasm  telling  of  the  excellent  working 
of  the  plan.  To  be  sure  there  are  a  few  adverse  reports. 
We  find  that  communities  largely  Mexican  in  com- 
plexion evince  little  interest  in  the  plan. 


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SUBJECT 

EIVED 


i      FINE  IF  NOT  RETU 

RATION  LlQRi- 


3/PSYCH  LIB. 


?NED  TCT 

RY 


•m  L9-116m-8,'62(D1237s8)444 


UCLA-ED/PSYCH  Library 

LB 1048  A36 


REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILI 


UftttVE 


.1FORNI* 


3RARY 


